The Rivals cast supported author Jilly Cooper at the 2024 Harper's Bazaar Women Of The Year Awards in London on Tuesday.

Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean and Alex Hassell proudly posed for photos backstage at Claridges Hotel after Dame Jilly, 87, won the writing award.

The Disney+ series, an adaptation of the 1988 novel of the same name, follows the lives and loves of two bitter rivals and has received critical acclaim.

During an evening celebrating Britain's biggest female stars and their respective contributions to the arts, Jilly won the award, presented by Aidan, for “her exceptional contribution to literature over half a century”.

The author wore a black satin slip dress for the event paired with a sheer ruffled jacket and a classic pearl necklace.

The Rivals cast supported author Jilly Cooper at the 2024 Harper's Bazaar Women Of The Year Awards in London on Tuesday

Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean and Alex Hassell proudly posed for photos backstage at Claridges Hotel after Dame Jilly, 87, won the writing award (Jilly and Aidan pictured)

Aidan, who plays Declan O'Hara in the eight-part series, looked dapper in a black velvet suit

The actor recently opened up about how he threw himself into his racy scenes with his friend and co-star Victoria Smurfit, who plays his wife Maud.

“Rivals” has a whole host of raunchy scenes to offer, including married couple Declan and Victoria baring everything.

But speaking to The Sunday Times, Aidan revealed that both he and Victoria had no concerns about intimacy. “Victoria is such a legend, she’s a friend, I love her,” he said.

“We didn't care, we just jumped in straight away,” Aidan added, admitting that Victoria didn't even know there would be intimacy coordinators until the couple arrived on set.

The Poldark star said: “It's technical but you have to have fun with it too, it can't just be tedious.”

“It's like a dance. There are 50 hairy men hanging around with cameras.'

His admission came after it was revealed that younger “Rivals” writers had lobbied to have the fumbling scene removed from the eight-part Disney adaptation.

During an evening celebrating Britain's biggest female stars, Jilly won the prize for “her exceptional contribution to literature over half a century”.

The award was presented by Aidan, who then posed for photos with Jilly

Bella, who plays Taggie O'Hara in the series, put her arm around the author for a photo

Jilly wore a black satin slip dress for the event paired with a sheer ruffled jacket and a classic pearl necklace

The Disney+ series, which is an adaptation of a 1988 novel of the same name, follows the lives and loves of two bitter rivals and has received rave reviews from critics (Aidan is pictured in the series with Victoria Smurfit).

It was a scene in Rivals that left viewers' blood running cold as Dame Jilly Cooper's dark-haired lothario Rupert Campbell Black stuck his hand up 19-year-old Taggie's skirt.

Dominic Treadwell-Collins, executive producer and writer of the series, said: “We talked a lot about the groping scene between Taggie and Rupert and whether we could show that on screen, and yes, we sat in the writer's room and did that figured it out.”

“Some of the younger writers said, 'You can't keep this to yourself because we would never want Rupert and Taggie to get together if he groped her.'

“And we said he has to change, it has to stay in, it’s a comment on the 80s and these men.”

Rivals has since been widely praised for its faithful adaptation to the original Dame Jilly storyline, which doesn't shy away from the more uncomfortable truths of the pre-MeToo 1980s.