There was no escaping Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s
comedy this year. It transformed our porn habits, sent gin-in-a-tin sales soaring ... and then the Catholic church weighed in
![Kneel! How the whole world bowed down to Fleabag ... and her Hot Priest](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0c8c9634bec4faccc8ded3c09512fface660f067/0_350_4189_2515/master/4189.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=7089ce35ffafbd6f3879229a4dc2ef8d)
‘It’ll pass,” Hot Priest told Fleabag after she declared her love for him in the show’s finale. We will never know if she got over him – its creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, recently said she has no idea where the character is now and has ruled out making another series. Meanwhile, the Fleabag phenomenon has intensified like a desperately needy crush (very Fleabag) since the show concluded in April.
Except that wasn’t quite it. This is partly down to Waller-Bridge herself, who has kept her “vulnerable rascal” on life support throughout the year: spring brought an Off-Broadway run of the original one-woman show, followed by 30 performances in
London this summer. Hopeful fans queuing for returns one Saturday were met by Waller-Bridge and her TV co-star Andrew Scott handing out cans of Marks & Spencer G&T, the “proper drink” their characters in the TV version share one night in church – a scene that led to a 24% sales spike the following week.