‘I was a bit nervous about pleasing her’: Alex Hassell, aka Jilly Cooper’s Rupert Campbell-Black in the riotous Rivals remake, on playing the most handsome man in Britain and impressing the iconic author

‘We had this brilliant trainer, Mark… who actually, years ago, competed in showjumping under the name of Rupert Campbell-Black… on Rocky [Rupert’s Olympic showjumper] which is excellent,’ he says, with a wry smile. Indeed, Hassell was launched and introduced as ‘her Rupert’ at Jilly’s Gloucestershire summer party earlier this year, amidst the throng of real-life Ruperts. Cooper gave the full cast – Aidan Turner, David Tennant, Danny Dyer et al – signed copies of the book with little notes; and of course Hassell has received one of Cooper’s signature folding animal cards.