Andi Peters has addressed the controversy surrounding actress Miriam Margolyes' use of an offensive term during a live television appearance, stating that he must "be ready for anything." The incident occurred on the ITV program This Morning when Margolyes, 85, referred to Peters, who is of mixed heritage, as "high yalla."
The term, also spelled "high yaller" or "high yellow," is a dated and often offensive slang term used in the United States to describe a Black person with a light complexion. Margolyes used the term while promoting her book, "Miriam's Full English," which she described as being about inclusion.
During the segment, after Peters corrected Margolyes about his parents both being Black, she stated, "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?"
Peters responded by noting that producers appeared to be getting nervous, saying, "They're getting nervous now." Margolyes then reassured him, "Don't be nervous. We welcome everybody."
Fellow broadcaster Jeremy Vine, a friend of Peters, reacted to the clip on social media, calling the comments "seriously nerve-wracking" and praising Peters' professionalism. "@andipeters dealt with it brilliantly," Vine posted, to which Peters replied, "As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!"
The clip of the exchange was removed from the ITVX recording of the show. Viewers on social media expressed outrage, with some accusing Margolyes of racism and comparing her language to 19th-century American racism. Others questioned the comment, with some suggesting it was ignorant but not necessarily racist.
This is not the first time Margolyes has faced criticism for her outspoken language. In 2024, the BBC removed a comment she made on air describing the Charles Dickens character Fagin as "Jewish and vile." Margolyes, who is Jewish herself, made the comment during a discussion about her experiences with Dickens's work, adding, "I didn't know Jews like that then – sadly, I do now."
Dickens's character Fagin, a London crime lord, is explicitly described as Jewish in the novel "Oliver Twist," and the character has been noted for employing anti-Semitic tropes prevalent in Victorian England. In a previous interview, Margolyes also described Fagin as "not only extremely funny but horrible, evil, a complete a***."