Miriam Margolyes has responded to the This Morning racism row, after she was criticised for questioning host Andy Peters’ race live on air.
The 85-year-old actor, known for her unpredictable chat show outbursts, said she “didn’t want to embarrass or hurt” Peters during a controversial back-and-forth about the presenter’s heritage, “because he seems very nice”.
Margolyes added that she made the comments as she is “fascinated by other people”.
On a recent episode of the ITV daytime series, Margolyes started impersonating co-host Christine Lampard’s Northern Irish accent, when she asked Peters: “What accent would be normal for you? What are you?”
“What am I? I’m me,” Peters said, to which the Harry Potter actor responded: “Well, you’re a mix, aren’t you? So you’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy.”
He informed Margolyes that both of his parents are Black, before she went on to use an outdated phrase. When the host said that he “didn’t know there were shades”, Margolyes stated: “There are shades.”
At this point, producers expressed their concern over the conversation in Peters’ earpiece, with the host saying: “They’re getting nervous now.”
“Don’t be nervous,” Margolyes said, adding: “We welcome everybody, and that’s what I want to write about in my book.”
Peters addressed the furore days later, stating he is “ready for anything” while filming live television; now, Margoyles was asked about the subject during an interview in Southend while promoting her new memoir.
“I’d never met him before; I didn’t know who he was and I didn’t know he was Black until I saw him,” she said, according to The Sun.
“When you see someone, of course, you know they’re Black. I wanted to know what he thought about it because that’s what interests me. How do Black people feel? How do brown people feel? How do fat people feel?”
She continued: “All of us feel something about who we are and how people see us, what they think of us. I am fascinated by other people. They are the people that interest me, not the celebrities so much.
“It’s everybody. What their story is, what made them who they are, why you are the way you are.”
The Independent has contacted Margolyes, Peters and ITV for comment.
The exchange was edited from the episode that was added to catch-up service ITVX.
In 2023, Margolyes expressed her “regret” over asking the late Friends star Matthew Perry whether “he was an alcoholic” on The Graham Norton Show.
The theatre and film star, whose credits include The Age of Innocence and Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone, appeared on Norton’s BBC chat show in 2020 alongside the American actor, who died in October 2023.
Margolyes said, upon reflection, she “really wishes” she hadn’t asked him that question, adding that it “was one of the few times” she “didn’t quite ‘mesh’ with another guest” on a chat show.
She wrote in her memoir: “Matthew was expecting a bland conversation that stayed on the surface of things, but I was warming to my theme and immediately launched in, burrowing deeper.” At one stage, when she shared an X-rated anecdote, Perry comedically declared: “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been more uncomfortable in my life.”
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