TV presenter Andi Peters has addressed Miriam Margolyes’ questioning of his race live on air while presenting This Morning.
Actor Margolyes, 85, has become increasingly known for her unpredictable chat show appearances, and her comments about Peters’ heritage on the ITV daytime series on Thursday (3 September) left show bosses so “nervous” they were edited from the episode that was added to catch-up service ITVX.
After Margolyes started impersonating co-host Christine Lampard’s Northern Irish accent, she asked Peters: “What accent would be normal for you? What are you?”
Peters replied: “What am I? I’m me,” to which the Harry Potter actor said: “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He informed Margolyes that both of his parents are Black, following which she used an outdated phrase.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.”
After the episode aired and the clip went viral online, broadcaster Jeremy Vine wrote on Instagram: This is seriously nerve-wracking. No filter. Andi Peters dealt with it brilliantly, but note at the end – ‘They're getting nervous' [the producers].’
Peters wrote back: “Thanks JV. As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!”
The Independent has contacted Margolyes, Peters and ITV for comment.
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 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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