Miriam Margolyes did not mince words when explaining why she declined an invitation to join on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 82-year-old Harry Potter icon may often appear on morning shows and late-night chat shows, but she has stated that she has no desire to participate in reality television.
While it would be easy to believe she didn’t because of her renowned outspoken attitude and humorous lack of filter, she has instead explained why she turned down the acclaimed BBC series.
When discussing the recent release of her tell-all memoir, Oh Miriam: Stories from an Extraordinary Life, the actress said that she decided to write the book because “they offered me a lot of money.”
‘That’s true, that’s absolutely true,’ she said.
‘When you’re old and you know that your earning potential is diminishing, you’ve got to get the money while you can.’
She made it plain, however, that her ambition to make money did not extend to accepting an offer for specific tasks.
She continued, saying: ‘I won’t do that, what do you call it? The dancing thing.’
After host Nick Grimshaw, who fronts the Dish from Waitrose with Angela Hartnett, asked if she meant Strictly, Miriam confirmed she’d been asked to appear multiple times.
‘Yeah, they must have been f***ing nuts,’ she quipped.
She then disclosed that she’d been invited to go on I’m A Celebrity but had declined due to personal reasons.
‘And they asked me to go in the jungle,’ she revealed, with Nick asking her if that had been a ‘hard no’.
‘I’ve got class, love. I’m not doing that.’
Miriam was up about her feelings on the ITV show during a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
When asked by the host whether she’d ever appear, she declared: ‘Are you kidding? I’m not a wh***’.
During the discussion, Boy George reflected on his experience in the jungle last year, when he lived with former health secretary Matt Hancock.
In reflecting on the Bushtucker Trials he passed, he disclosed that Buddhist chanting were employed to ward off snakes.
‘For some reason, the snakes went for Matt Hancock,’ he recalled, with Miriam scoffing: ‘It takes one to know one.’
She stated her opposition to ITV hiring the discredited politician for the show last year.
‘Why we have him on our televisions, I don’t know. I don’t know why he was thought a proper person to entertain. He’s a vile human being,’ she said during an interview on Ireland’s The Six O’Clock Show.
‘He nearly destroyed our National Health Service, he sent loads of people with Covid, old ladies, back into their care homes. I think he’s a detestable, vile, puny individual.’
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One. I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! launches on Sunday, November 19, at 9pm on ITV.
