An attempt by Miriam Margolyes to address the Miriam Margolyes Andi Peters comment that caused widespread upset has itself drawn criticism, after she used further language that many found offensive during a live appearance over the weekend.
The original incident occurred on ITV‘s This Morning, where Margolyes used an offensive term to describe Peters’ skin colour during an interview to promote her new book, Miriam’s Full English: A Grand Tour of All Our Best Bits. The moment has since been removed from ITVX, though clips spread rapidly across social media, drawing widespread condemnation.
What Margolyes Said at Cliffs Pavilion
Hoping to put the matter to rest, Margolyes spoke about the incident during an on-stage appearance at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea, where she was again promoting the book. An attendee filmed the moment and uploaded it to TikTok. She said she ‘didn’t want to embarrass or hurt Andi because he seems very nice’, and went on to explain her original line of questioning.
‘I wanted to know what he thought about [identity] because that’s what interests me,’ she said. ‘How do Black people feel? How do Brown people feel? How do cripples feel? How do fat people feel?’
Her use of the word ‘cripples’ to describe disabled people immediately drew criticism in its own right. Alongside that, many viewers and social media users took issue with what they saw as a perceived equivalency between being Black and being disabled or fat, arguing the framing implied that Blackness is a condition or disadvantage in the same category as physical disability.
Public Reaction to the Miriam Margolyes Andi Peters Row
‘Disabled people don’t like being called “crippled”,’ wrote one user on X, while another described the language as ’19th century discrimination’. A third post read: ‘Of course she’s mentioned “fat people”, like her, so she can draw some sort of equivalence between herself and Andi Peters. And cripples? Really? Is she just trolling now?’
Others took aim at the broader framing of the remarks. ‘Little bit offensive to bunch in “black people” with various types of disability as though being black is a disability,’ one person wrote, adding, ‘Miriam strikes again lol’. Another put it more bluntly: ‘Because being black is some kind of medical condition, according to her.’ A further user said they no longer give Margolyes ‘the benefit of the doubt’ over her choice of language.
The reaction online suggests that, whatever Margolyes’ intention in addressing the original Miriam Margolyes Andi Peters comment, her Southend remarks have left many feeling the situation has been made worse rather than better.
Andi Peters and Jeremy Vine Weigh In
Peters himself has responded to the televised moment, telling fellow presenter Jeremy Vine that ‘we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!’. The comment struck a measured, even wry tone, though it offered little in the way of a direct assessment of what Margolyes had said.
Digital Spy has reached out to representatives of Margolyes for comment and will update if a response is received. For now, the conversation around the Miriam Margolyes Andi Peters comment shows little sign of cooling, with each new development appearing to add fuel rather than settle the matter.
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