Miriam Margolyes has become embroiled in a racism row with Andi Peters after she used an offensive term to describe the presenter's skin colour during an appearance on This Morning yesterday. The 85-year-old actress was promoting her book Miriam's Full English when ITV bosses were forced to intervene after she referred to Andi as "high yalla".
The term, also spelled "high yaller" or "high yellow", is a dated and often offensive slang expression used in the United States to describe a black person with a light complexion.
Margolyes later said she "welcomes everybody" and that her book is about inclusion, but viewers on X accused her of racism after what they called an uncomfortable exchange.
What Was Said On Air
The conversation began after Margolyes impersonated the Northern Irish accent of her fellow presenter Christine Lampard. She then turned to Andi and asked: "But what accent would be normal for you?"
"This is normal. This is what I am," Andi replied. Margolyes continued: "Oh, you're a mix, aren't you? You've got a black daddy and a white mummy."
"No, no, no. Both my parents are black," Andi said, before joking: "What have they put on me, am I a lighter shade than normal?"
Margolyes pressed on, saying: "Both parents are I think you're what I would call a 'high yalla'. That's what they call it in America. Oh, when someone isn't deeply black, right?" Andi responded: "I didn't even know there were shades," to which Margolyes said: "There are shades."
Producers are thought to have issued a warning to Andi through his earpiece as the exchange went on, with him then saying on air: "Oh, okay. They're getting nervous now. They're getting nervous now."
"Don't be nervous," Margolyes reassured him. "We welcome everybody. That's what I want to write about in my book. It's about inclusion."
The exchange has since been removed from the version of the interview published on ITVX. The Daily Mail said it had contacted both ITV and Margolyes' representatives for comment.
Viewers React On Social Media
The clip drew a strong reaction online. One commenter wrote: "Miriam Margolyes just sounds like a run-of-the-mill racist here. It's very uncomfortable viewing."
Another quoted the exchange back and wrote: "'Both your parents are black? I think you're high yellow, that's what they call it in America!' Well, yes, if you happen to live on a plantation in 1845. We don't actually call it that any more, on account of it being super racist."
Others were equally blunt. "Imagine being called a slur that hasn't been heard, in English, for like a hundred years," one wrote, while another said: "I assure you that is not what we call anything in America."
A further comment read: "No filter, not really a funny woman. Why do we still have her on TV?" while one user wrote: "This isn't run of the mill racism. It's 19th-century American racism."
Not everyone agreed. Some viewers pushed back, with one asking "What is racist about that?" and another writing: "Ignorance maybe but this isn't racism."
Not The First Controversy
This is not the first time Margolyes, best known to many for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, has caused a stir with her outspoken language. In 2024 the BBC pulled a comment she made on air after she described Charles Dickens' character Fagin as "Jewish and vile".
The Jewish actress made the remark while speaking to the BBC arts programme Front Row about her earliest experiences with the novelist, during her Edinburgh Fringe run of Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits, a one-woman show in which she performs some of the author's best known characters.
Asked by BBC Radio 4 presenter Kirsty Wark which character had stuck in her mind since childhood, Margolyes named Fagin, prompting laughter from the audience as she said: "Oh, Fagin. Without question. Jewish and vile." She added: "I didn't know Jews like that then, sadly, I do now."
The BBC later removed the comment from the programme, saying it should have been challenged at the time. Fagin, the criminal who runs a gang of child pickpockets in Oliver Twist, is one of English literature's most heavily criticised characters, with Dickens drawing on anti-Semitic stereotypes of Victorian England to create him. Fagin is explicitly Jewish in the novel. Margolyes said in another interview last month that the character is "not only extremely funny but horrible, evil, a complete a***".
