Miriam Margolyes is facing criticism over comments she made to Andi Peters during her latest appearance on This Morning.
On Thursday morning, the Bafta was interviewed by Andi and co-host Christine Lampard live on the ITV daytime show about her new book Miriam’s Full English, in which she reflects on modern-day British culture.
During the conversation, Miriam began imitating Christine’s Northern Irish lilt, before turning to Andi and asking: “What accent would be normal for you? What are you?”
“What am I?” Andi responded, to which Miriam said: “Well, you’re a mix, aren’t you? You’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy?”
“No, no, both my parents are Black,” he then clarified, with Miriam going on to comment more on his skin colour.
Making light of the situation, Andi questioned whether the show’s make-up team had made him a “lighter shade than normal”, before the Harry Potter star remarked: “I think you’re what I would call ‘high yella’. That’s what they call it in America when someone isn’t deeply Black.”
“High yellow” – described by Merriam Webster as a “dated” and “often offensive” term – was historically used to refer to Black people who had a lighter complexion.
When Andi commented that he “didn’t even know there were shades”, Miriam told him: “There are shades. And this is what we have to incorporate…”
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Andi then interrupted to say that the producers in his earpiece were “getting nervous now”, but Miriam then said: “Don’t be nervous. We [in Britain] welcome everybody. And that’s what I want to write about in my book!”
This uncomfortable exchange didn’t sit well with many viewers, some of whom claimed that the exchange was removed from the conversation when the broadcast was made available to watch on ITV’s catch-up services.
HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Miriam Margolyes, Andi Peters and This Morning for comment.
Over the years, Miriam has become known for candid and unfiltered approach in interviews.
However, this has led to controversy on some occasions, including back in 2024, when she, again, asked an interviewer “what are you?” while speaking live on an Australian panel show.
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.