"Fleabag", the nickname of the central character, is also the nickname given to actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge by her family.
When writing Killing Eve, Phoebe Waller-Bridge said that it aided her to develop the characters of Fleabag and took notes for additional ideas for the characters.
The television show is adapted from Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman play of the same name. The award-winning play was performed in Edinburgh in 2013.
The initial idea of the character came from a challenge by a friend, where Phoebe Waller-Bridge was tasked with creating a sketch for a 10-minute section in a stand-up storytelling night.
British actresses Jodie Comer and Phoebe Waller-Bridge both won lead actress Emmys on the same night for, respectively, Killing Eve (2018) and Fleabag (2016), both series being original creations of Waller-Bridge.