Comparison,” begins one of Miranda Hart’s favorite quotes, recently shared on Instagram with her 1.2 million followers, “is the thief of joy.”
And joy is an emotion that the actress and comedian, 51, who surprised her fans with news of her secret wedding earlier this month, has been brimming with lately.
Making a series of media appearances to launch her new book I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You, which details her private battle with Lyme disease, a chronic condition that left her bedridden for years, Miranda remained silent about the identity of her new husband.
After much speculation, it was confirmed that it was Richard Fairs, the 60-year-old boss of a construction company, whom Miranda struck up a romance during lockdown and married this year.
But this is where the comparisons begin – sorry, Miranda. While Miranda has been candid in the past about her lonely single life, Richard has been married before… and to someone who has a lot in common with his new wife.
Amanda Heart, 51, married Richard Fairs, a 60-year-old construction company boss, after striking up an affair with him during lockdown.
Jeanne Fairs, 60, was the new Mr. Hart’s first wife. The couple, who have two adult children, were married for more than 25 years before splitting in 2017, and it looks like he may have a type.
With their shoulder-length light brown hair, long faces and strong jaws, not to mention wide smiles and thin, arched eyebrows, Jeanne and Miranda share striking similarities in appearance.
Although different in height and stature (Miranda is 6ft 1in and has told how her illness caused her to gain weight, while Jeanne’s children, Jack and Shula, surpass their thin, petite mother), their wardrobes are also remarkably similar. .
Photos on social media show them wearing similar nautical stripes, leopard print scarves and chunky cardigans. And the comparisons don’t end there.
Jeanne, an English teacher who is currently vice-principal at a secondary school in Portishead, on the outskirts of Bristol, has a talent for writing comedy, as does her ex-husband’s new wife.
Her blog The Dragonfly Jar is filled with irreverent, self-deprecating posts about life as a divorcee, with jokes (spanning her love for David Cassidy, comedic interactions with her teenage students, and her penchant for “disco naps”) that would undoubtedly make Miranda laughs.
Both women also share a close bond with their brothers. Jeanne is the youngest of four. He has a brother and a sister; her other sister died in 2019. Meanwhile, Miranda’s sister Alice lives next door to her parents in Hambledon, Hampshire, and is said to have helped facilitate their wedding at the local village church.
Like Richard, whom Miranda calls her “Bristol boy”, Jeanne is originally from the city. However, he attended Angmering Comprehensive School in West Sussex, while Miranda went to Downe House in Berkshire, the all-female alma mater of Kate and Pippa Middleton.
Both women grew up in religious families. “As Bible-thumping Methodists, even buying a raffle ticket, let alone chewing wine gum, was strictly frowned upon,” Jeanne writes on her blog. Miranda, meanwhile, is a staunch Christian and once admitted, “It’s scary to say you’re pro-God.”
Children also occupy a prominent place in both worlds. Jeanne, whose two older children call her ‘Mama J’, refers to them as her ‘brilliant cheerleaders’.
“If you are lucky enough to have children, whatever their age, spend time with them,” he writes.
Richard was married to his first wife, Jeanne Fairs, 60, for more than 25 years before separating in 2017.
“When I’m on my knees and doubting myself, my two seem to ‘get me’.”
Miranda has no children and adores her dog, a dog named Patti. But she is a proud aunt to her niece and nephew. Writing in
Friends say she is a devoted and generous aunt, and really enjoyed spending time with young children on the set of the BBC’s Call The Midwife, in which her character Chummy had a child of her own.
On Mother’s Day 2019, Miranda posted online: “Happy day to all those who have chosen or have not been able to have children, but raise them, cherish them and are mothers in other ways.”
And she has written children’s books, including The Girl with the Lost Smile, a story about an 11-year-old girl who can’t find her smile, which was published in 2017.
Although they come from very different worlds: Miranda lives in a £2 million London house; Jeanne has bought and renovated a derelict country house near Bristol; They also share several interests.
They both like gardening and plants, both watch period dramas: Miranda starred in the 2020 film adaptation of Emma; Jeanne likes the BBC box set of Pride and Prejudice, and they both have a penchant for making others laugh by wearing silly costumes and doing funny dances.
A recent photo on her blog shows Jeanne wearing a mermaid tail at a book club meeting, and she jokes about doing a ‘Telly Tubby dance’ at her son’s upcoming wedding.
Meanwhile, Miranda is a fan of Strictly Come Dancing and is treating her Instagram followers to ‘Choreography Tuesday’, recreating moves from the competition.
If circumstances were different, one wonders if they could have been friends. They are both careful about what they eat; While Richard’s ex-wife is a vegetarian, Miranda follows a strict dairy- and gluten-free diet and hasn’t drank alcohol in years.
Jeanne spends much of her free time running (last year she completed a 50km ‘ultramarathon’) and is a yoga teacher. When she was younger, Miranda was also something of an athlete, once completing a 100-meter race in an astonishing 12 seconds (the women’s world record is 10.49) without training.
They also share a desire for privacy. Although her career puts her in the spotlight, Miranda has always led a discreet private life. The fact that she has kept a new romance, engagement and wedding a secret shows how good she is at leading a “normal” life.
Even in her book, where she details her encounter with Richard when he came to fix a mold problem in her house, and their first date eating takeout pizza, she doesn’t name him and has yet to share a photo of them together. .
When contacted by the Mail for comment this week, Jeanne did not respond, while friends and family declined to discuss Richard’s new romance.
She also appears to have found love in her adult life, referring on her blog to a handsome new 60-something companion, whom she calls “my friend.” During one weekend, he surprised her with a bouquet of sunflowers and a mug painted with a dragonfly, a gesture that made her “melt emotionally,” she says.
Jeanne would no doubt empathize with Miranda’s words in her new book: ‘The fact that I could meet someone is not some kind of romantic comedy story, but hope; There is always hope, things can change.’ Whether you’ll rush out and buy a copy is another question.