Miriam Margolyes speaks out after backlash over racist remark about Andi Peters
Miriam Margolyes has addressed the discourse surrounding her controversial comments on This Morning, insisting she was simply curious.
The infamously outspoken actress, 85, sparked uproar last Thursday (3 September) during an appearance on the ITV show to promote her new book.
After stunning viewers by using a historical racial slur to describe the skin colour of host Andi Peters, Margolyes has now spoken out about the incident in wake of the backlash.
While promoting her book Miriam's Full English: A Grand Tour of All Our Best Bits, Margolyes bizarrely used an offensive term when discussing Peters' heritage.
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The conversation turned to his accent and the colour of his parents skin, as the Harry Potter star asked him: "Well, you’re a mix, aren’t you? So you’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy."
Peters, 56, explained that both his parents are in fact black, before Margolyes' then subsequently used the slur during the live broadcast.
The host was seen then putting his finger to his ear while seemingly talking to ITV producers as he said: "They're getting nervous now. They're getting nervous now."
Margolyes then responded: "Don't be nervous. We welcome everybody and that's what I want to write about in my book, it's about inclusion.
"Not that there are people who need to be pushed out. And I'm not going to say who they are. You've got to read the book to find out.”
ITV subsequently removed the exchange from catch-up versions of the programme on ITVX, but that didn't stop it going viral on social media.
Broadcaster Jeremy Vine was one such person to share his outrage over Margolyes' remarks and praised Peters for dealing with it 'brilliantly'.
Peters responded to the incident too, saying in response to Vine: "Thanks JV. As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!"
While prompting her new book at an event in Southend on Sunday (6 September), Margolyes addressed her comments on This Morning.
Videos shared to social media by those in attendance show her saying: "I didn't want to embarrass or hurt Andi because he seems very nice.
"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. 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."
Margolyes says she is 'fascinated by other people'
She then put her foot in it once again as she went on to say: "How do black people feel? How do brown people feel? How do cripples feel? How do fat people feel?'
"You see what I mean? All of us feel something about who we are and how people see us, what they think of us."
When asked whether if she aimed to 'discuss his identity' with Peters, Margolyes added: "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."
LADbible Group previously approached representatives of Miriam Margolyes and ITV for comment.
Topics: ITV, Celebrity, This Morning, UK News, Racism
Olivia Burke