Miriam Margolyes ‘disliked’ this Graham Norton guest: ‘I should have taught her how to behave’

Unfiltered icon Miriam Margolyes has revealed that she ‘disliked’ one particular co-star during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show – Lily Allen.

Miriam Margolyes, the outspoken lesbian actress well known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film franchise and wielding her unabashed and shameless opinions on various talk shows, has brandished her filter-free outlook on life once more, this time taking aim at a previous co-star on The Graham Norton Show.

Speaking during an appearance at Hay Festival on Saturday (June 1), Margolyes did not hold back in unleashing her thoughts on one particular fellow celebrity; this time, singer Lily Allen.

The duo appeared together on a 2014 episode of the chat show, with the pair sat opposite Norton alongside Dominic Cooper; speaking about the appearance, Margolyes said to author Philippe Sands:

“She thought when she was on the programme that it was all about her. She thought: ‘Who is this woman? Miriam who?'” reports The Independent.

“I should have just taught her how to behave”

Margolyes then added: “She wasn’t friendly and I didn’t like that and so I showed my dislike, which wasn’t very nice of me because she was much younger than me and I should have just taught her how to behave.”

This is not the first time that Margolyes has been honest in her opinions. She recently took aim at adults still obsessed with the Harry Potter franchise, saying that she was “worried” about them.

“I worry about Harry Potter fans,” she said at the time. “They should be over that by now. You know, I mean, it was 25 years ago and it’s for children. I think it’s for children, but they get stuck in it.”

The Doctor Who star, who previously said she “never felt any shame” surrounding her sexuality, has also been open in her journey in becoming more accustomed to using gender-neutral pronouns.

Speaking on a different episode of The Graham Norton Show in 2023 to discuss her new book, Oh Miriam: Stories from an Extraordinary Life, Margolyes recounted a chat with Australian actor Zoe Terakes, who made history as the first out trans actor to be cast in a key role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“[Terakes] had a discussion with me about it, and she said: ‘What does it matter to you? If you can make somebody happy by calling them they instead of he or she, why not do it?’

“And I thought, that’s right! It doesn’t matter about grammar! If you can make someone happy and give them a sense of themselves, then do it!”