Why tragic lesbian scene was cut from Love Actually

It seems like no matter how many times you cosy up to watch Love Actually every year, it simply never gets old.

Yep, despite coming out over two decades back in 2003, the tear-jerking rom-com still succeeds in making us well up every time we hear the über touching: "If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

However, while many of us may be able to recite entire scenes off by heart, some are only just catching on to the reason why a tragic lesbian scene was cut from the cult flick.

Now, as we all know, the film follows the tangled and complicated love lives of various couples during Christmas time.

In case you need your memory refreshed, there are several separate love stories in Love Actually, and most of them are pretty problematic.

Whether you're talking about Mark (Andrew Lincoln), who falls in love with his best mate's wife and makes a move at her while her hubby watches the telly, Juliet (Keira Knightley) who responds to such a pass by kissing him on the lips before running home to her husband or the heart-wrenching affair Harry (Alan Rickman) had while married to Karen (Emma Thompson) - it's not surprising that fans would be after something a little less toxic and, let's face it, a little more diverse from one of the film's couplings.

Well, you'll be happy to know that Frances de la Tour was originally meant to star in the movie in a plotline focusing on an older lesbian couple who were somehow connected to Karen and her brood.

Frances de la Tour, 81, was set to star as one half of a lesbian couple in Love Actually (Anthony Harvey / Contributor / Getty Images)

The Tony Award winner was supposed to play Geraldine, the terminally ill partner of Anne Reid’s unnamed character.

However, their 'lovely' scenes were left on the cutting room floor by creator Richard Curtis.

In an interview with the Independent in 2022, the Enola Homes favourite commented: "It’s odd that they cut it."

She added: "I think it was the only gay scene. Maybe it was too dark to bring into it."

It’s understood that Frances and Anne were supposed to argue over sausages before cuddling up together at night, as per the publication.

Anne Reid, 90, was the other half of the proposed lesbian couple that never made it into the final cut of Love Actually (Bruce Glikas / Contributor / Getty Images)

It would later be revealed that Geraldine died before the bells tolled for Yuletide.

The actress explained: "Because it ended up being quite a light and fluffy film, didn’t it? At least [Richard] wrote to me and said, 'We’re terribly sorry but it’s got to be cut.'"

The Love Actually director himself said he was 'really sorry to lose' the lesbian love story, claiming so in the DVD’s bonus footage.

"The idea was meant to be that you just casually meet this very stern headmistress, but later on in the film we suddenly fell in with her and you realise that, no matter how unlikely it seems, any character you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love," Curtis enthused.