Dawn French had poop smeared across her front door by racist yobs when she was married to Lenny Henry.
The 60-year-old comedienne has revealed she was subjected to a series of vile outbursts and racial attacks by "cowards" during her 25-year marriage to the stand-up comedian because of his Jamaican heritage.
Speaking on ‘Sunday Night’, she said: "It got pretty bad on some occasions.
"I mean there’s the big, open, ignorant, cowardly attacks that are things like excrement on your door. We had that."
Dawn believes the abuse, which also saw her cars keyed – got even worse when the then-couple adopted their now 27-year-old mixed race daughter, Billie.
She explained: "That took me more by surprise because it’s everywhere. And only when you’re married to a black man do you think, ‘Oh hang on, that guy just said that and thought it was OK to say.’ "
This isn’t the first time Dawn has opened up about the racial abuse she endured throughout their marriage.
She said recently: "I fell in love with a man and he happened to be black …
"We were lucky we had a big house and a gate and could employ people to protect us when we needed it. Lots of mixed-race couples weren’t so lucky."
The couple divorced in 2010 but they have remained on good terms and Dawn still refers to the 59-year-old funny man as one of her "best friends."
Three years after their divorce, Dawn married Mark Bignell, boss of Hamoaze House charity, and the couple now live in Cornwall together.
Of her new marriage, she said: "I remarried and I married a very cheerful man, and I’ve come to realise just how important cheerfulness is – it’s a wonderful thing."
Dawn French had poop smeared across front door in racist attack
