Miriam Margolyes made light of the furore her controversial comments about Boris Johnson caused as she made a return appearance to The Last Leg on Friday night.
The star made headlines in 2020 when she appeared on the Channel 4 show and admitted she’d initially “had difficulty” not wanting the prime minister to die after he caught Covid-19, due to how his government handled the pandemic.
Miriam was asked for her thoughts on the state of the Tory party following Johnson’s resignation as PM as she returned to the show, to which she referenced her earlier remarks.
“I have to be careful what I say, because last time people thought that I wanted to eliminate Mr Johnson,” she said.
“I remember that, yes,” host Adam Hills said.
”... and they were quite right,” Miriam added with a smile, drawing laughs from the audience.
Miriam had said on the show in 2020: “I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die. I wanted him to die. Then I thought that will reflect badly on me and I don’t want to be the sort of person that wants people to die.
“So then I wanted him to get better, which he did do, he did get better. But he didn’t get better as a human being. And I really would prefer that.”
Her remarks prompted almost 500 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom.
The regulator ultimately decided not to investigate with a spokesperson saying: “These provocative comments had clear potential to offend viewers, but we also considered the audience’s likely expectations of Miriam Margolyes, a comic actor known for her forthright views, and of this live, late-night satirical comedy show.
“We also took into account that Ms Margolyes immediately qualified her comments, and viewers were warned in advance about the programme’s adult humour.”
Months after the controversy, the former Harry Potter star said: “I can’t regret telling the truth. Daddy always said you must have a golden reputation, you must never do anything wrong and I don’t do anything wrong, in my view. I always try and do the right thing.”
The Last Leg airs Fridays at 10pm on Channel 4.
