Andi Peters responds to Miriam Margolyes 'racism row' as Jeremy Vine praises This Morning presenter for his professionalism

Andi Peters has responded to the Miriam Margolyes 'racism row' as he said he has to be 'ready for anything', after his friend and fellow journalist Jeremy Vine reacted to the incident. 

The actress, 85, known for being outspoken, used an offensive term to describe the presenter's skin colour during an appearance on This Morning on Thursday. 

ITV bosses were forced to intervene after she referred to Andi as 'high yalla'.

The clip, which was removed from the ITVX recording of the show, has since gone viral with many viewers taking to Twitter to express their outrage over Miriam's comments. 

And now fellow broadcaster Jeremy has weighed in as he also reshared the clip and called out Miriam's comments as 'seriously nerve-wracking'. 

Praising how Andi dealt with the interaction while live on air, Jeremy penned: 'This is seriously nerve-wracking. No filter. 

Andi Peters has responded to Miriam Margolyes 'racism row' as journalist Jeremy Vine calls out her comments as 'seriously nerve-wracking'

Praising how Andi Jeremy penned: 'This is seriously nerve-wracking... @andipeters dealt with it brilliantly' as Andi replied, 'you have to be ready for anything'

'@andipeters dealt with it brilliantly but note at the end — "they're getting nervous" [the producers].'

Thanking Jeremy for his support, Andi replied: 'Thanks JV. As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!'

Miriam appeared on the ITV daytime programme to promote her book Miriam's Full English when ITV bosses were forced to intervene after she referred to Andi as 'high yalla'.

The term, which can also be spelled 'high yaller' or 'high yellow' is a dated and often offensive slang term used to describe a black person with a light complexion in the US. 

Miriam added that she 'welcomes everybody' and her book is about inclusion, but viewers on X accused her of being racist after the uncomfortable conversation.  

After impersonating Christine Lampard's Northern Irish accent, Miriam turned to Andi as she asked: 'But what accent would be normal for you?'

'This is normal. This is what I am,' replied Andi, as Miriam 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,' confirmed Andi, before he joked: 'What have they put on me, am I a lighter shade than normal?' 

Miriam continued: '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?'

'I didn't even know there were shades,' said Andi, as Miriam added: 'There are shades.'

Miriam turned to Andi as she asked: 'But what accent would be normal for you?' before referring to him as 'high yalla'

Worried about the direction of the conversation, producers are thought to have issued a warning to Andi through his earpiece – with him then saying out loud: 'Oh, okay. They're getting nervous now. They're getting nervous now.'

'Don't be nervous,' reassured Miriam, '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 ITVX version of the interview. The Daily Mail contacted both ITV and Miriam's representatives for comment. 

One outraged commenter wrote on social media: 'Miriam Margolyes just sounds like a run-of-the-mill racist here. It’s very uncomfortable viewing.'

Another 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'; 'Imagine being called a slur that hasn’t been heard, in English, for like a hundred years';

'I assure you that is not what we call anything in America'; 'No filter, not really a funny woman. Why do we still have her on TV?'

'This isn't run of the mill racism. It's 19th-century American racism.' 

However others penned: 'What is racist about that?'; 'Ignorance maybe but this isn't racism'.

It isn't the first time Miriam has caused controversy for her outspoken language. In 2024, the BBC pulled a comment by Miriam from the radio after the Harry Potter star said that Charles Dickens' Fagin was 'Jewish and vile' on air.

The Jewish actress was speaking to Front Row about her earliest experiences with the novelist during her Edinburgh Fringe run of Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits, in which she brings to life the author's most colourful characters in a one-woman show.

And in a response to a question from BBC Radio 4 presenter Kirsty Wark about the character that stuck in her head as a child, she responded with the Oliver Twist villain.

The broadcaster removed the comment from the programme – saying that it should have been challenged at the time.

The eccentric grandee sparked laughter among 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.'

One of English literature's most despised characters, Dickens used anti-Semitic tropes of Victorian England to create the character of Fagin, the London crime lord who ruled over a band of child pickpockets.

The manipulative criminal is explicitly Jewish in the book, with Miriam saying in another interview last month that he is 'not only extremely funny but horrible, evil, a complete a***'.