Margolyes’ on-air exchange with the presenter was deemed so controversial that ITV bossesswiftly removed the segment from the catch-up service.
The veteran actor found herself at the centre of a racism row after probing Peters about his ethnic background during Thursday’s edition of the long-running daytime show. TheHarry Potter star’s probing questions left producers so uncomfortable that they excised the entire conversation from the version uploaded to ITVX.
The Moment That Made Headlines
The incident unfolded when Margolyes, appearing alongside co-host Christine Lampard, began mimicking Lampard’s Northern Irish accent. The banter then took an unexpected turn when the 85-year-old entertainer turned her attention to Peters.
“So what accent would be normal for you? What are you?” Margolyes asked the presenter directly.
Peters attempted to deflect with a simple response: “What am I? I’m me.”
But Margolyes pressed further. “Well, you’re a mix, aren’t you? So you’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy.”
The presenter gently corrected her: both of his parents are Black. Rather than accepting this clarification gracefully, Margolyes employed an outdated expression. When Peters remarked that he “didn’t know there were shades”, she replied: “There are shades.”
The exchange continued with an uncomfortable persistence that left viewers watching at home wincing.
Production Team Intervenes
According to reports, those monitoring the show from the production gallery grew increasingly uneasy as the conversation progressed. Peters revealed that producers communicated their nervousness directly through his earpiece during the live broadcast.
“They’re getting nervous now,” Peters told Margolyes mid-exchange.
The actress responded dismissively: “Don’t be nervous.”
She then attempted to pivot the discussion toward her forthcoming memoir, stating: “We welcome everybody, and that’s what I want to write about in my book.”
Despite airing live on Thursday, the segment was conspicuously absent when the episode appeared on ITVX. ITV has not publicly addressed why the exchange was edited from the catch-up version.
Social Media Reacts
Broadcast journalist Jeremy Vine was among those who shared footage of the exchange on social media, writing on Instagram: “This is seriously nerve-wracking. No filter. Andi Peters dealt with it brilliantly, but note at the end – ‘They’re getting nervous’ [the producers].”
Peters responded with characteristic good humour: “Thanks JV. As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!”
The clip has since accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, with commentators divided on whether Margolyes’ questioning constituted harmless curiosity or something more problematic.
This is not the first time Margolyes has courted controversy for her unconventional chat show conduct. In 2023, she expressed regret over asking the late Friends star Matthew Perry whether “he was an alcoholic” during a 2020 appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Perry, who died in October 2023, later recounted in his memoir finding the encounter deeply uncomfortable.
Representatives for Margolyes, Peters, and ITV have been contacted for comment.
Why it Matters
This incident shines a uncomfortable spotlight on the boundaries of acceptable questioning when it comes to someone’s racial or ethnic identity. While Margolyes may have viewed her line of inquiry as friendly curiosity, the episode underscores how even well-intentioned comments about heritage can veer into territory that feels intrusive and reductive. Peters’ composed handling of the situation demonstrated considerable grace under pressure, but the incident raises valid questions about editorial oversight on live television – and whether producers should intervene more decisively when conversations take an uncomfortable turn. The swift removal of the segment from catch-up services suggests ITV recognise the footage reflects poorly on the network, even as therow continues to generate widespread discussion online.
