Fans hail Dawn French’s Comic Relief sketch as one of her all-time best: ‘French and Saunders. Still the greatest after all these years’

From the Vicar of Dibley to her endless impressions, Dawn French has been a leading lady in comedy for decades.

But that’s not to say she’s ever resting on her laurels.

Not only did she break the internet with her “new boyfriend” earlier this year and went on a hugely successful tour (with a suitably shocking name), Dawn has delivered what many are calling one of her best performances ever for this year’s Comic Relief.

In the United Kingdom, Comic Relief is an annual fundraiser which unites comedians and other celebrities to raise money for charity.

It was founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis – responsible for movies like Love, Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral - and comedian (and Dawn’s ex) Lenny Henry in response to the famine in Ethiopia.

For this year’s fundraiser, Dawn turned her comedic talents onto one of the surprise reality hits on both sides of the globe – The Traitors.

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Popular after airing a season of non-famous competitors in the UK and a celebrity edition in the United States, the Traitors involves lots of backstabbing and betrayal.

For the skit, Dawn brought together a cast of super famous individuals from different industries.

From Ewan McGregor to model David Gandy, Absolutely Fabulous’ Jennifer Saunders and even Dame Mary Berry, it was a riotous sketch perfectly capped off by Dawn’s spot on impression of BBC host, Claudia Winkleman.

Claudia was such a fan of Dawn’s portrayal the pair posed together earlier this month – giving fans online a case of seeing double!

After the sketch aired, fans took to social media to praise Dawn.

One, a contestant named Maddy who appeared in the UK’s season of The Traitors, wrote about meeting the funny lady, “They say never meet your idols, I say meet them cos @Dawn_French was bloody lovely and really looked out for me and wilf![sic]”

“Dawn French being Claudia Winkleman is one of the funniest impressions I've ever ever seen. ‘I'm Claudia Winkleman, half woman, half fringe.’ I can not stop laughing.”

And the only person who could compete with Dawn’s hilarious sketch is… Dawn herself.

Many fans said that this new skit was only surpassed by a now iconic Comic Relief sketch which saw Dawn French put the french into her kiss with Hugh Grant.

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Dawn puckered up to Notting Hill star Hugh in 1995 wearing a dress held together by safety pins – an ode to the Versace look made famous by Hugh’s then girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley.

After playing coy for a while, Dawn and Hugh ended up locking lips for a long, long time – to rapturous laughter.

After she became famous for the kiss, Dawn followed it up with some seriously admirable smooches, including Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Here's hoping to many more legendary Dawn French appearances for Comic Relief!