Miriam Margolyes turned down I'm A Celebrity and Strictly Come Dancing: ''I've got class, love. I'm not doing that"

Virgin Radio

15 Nov 2023, 11:26

Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes OBE has opened up about taking part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Strictly Come Dancing — and said she never will, because she has class.

Speaking on Nick Grimshaw and Angela Harnett's podcast, Dish from Waitrose, the daytime TV favourite revealed she has been approached to be on the shows for big bucks, but she isn't caving.

On penning her new tell-all memoir, Oh Miriam: Stories from an Extraordinary Life, she said: "I only wrote it 'cause they offered me a lot of money. That's true, that's absolutely true. Well, when you're old and you know that your earning potential is diminishing.

"You've got to get the money while you can. I won't do that, what do you call it? The dancing thing." Angela asked: "They asked you to do that a few times?"

The star of stage and screen responded: "Yeah, they must have been f****** nuts. And they asked me to go in the jungle."

Grimshaw asked: “Was that a hard no?”

“I’ve got class, love,” Margolyes said. “I’m not doing that.” The actress added: "I've got class, love. I'm not doing that. I thought, 'I'll write a book'."

The Doctor Who star spoke about her long-distance relationship with partner, Heather Sutherland, who lives in Amsterdam.

The pair have been together for over five decades, but live separately.

“I am so lucky,” Miriam admitted. I’ve got an intergenerational situation at home. I’ve got two lodgers.

“George was the second one that came,” she explained. “I had Emily come first, then George. He is a baker to die for. My favourite cake is coffee and walnut and he is brilliant at that.”

She explained: “Fifty-four years. And I really love her and I want to be with her and, now we’re getting old, we’ve got to try and find a way to be together.

“They make my life sweeter, because my partner lives in Amsterdam, so I don’t see her very much, so I probably would get quite lonely if I was on my own all the time.”

Although Miriam won't be starring in it anytime soon, the new series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is almost here, and the line-up has finally been revealed. 

The 21st series includes pop-stars, actors, TV presenters, YouTubers and a controversial politician, which kicks off on 19th November.