Miriam Margolyes suggested a woman who wanted to start dating men again should join Grindr, before she learned it was a gay dating site.
The 81-year-old appeared on This Morning to answer calls from the public and offer advice on any queries they had including dating.
One caller, Leanne, said she was plus-sized and anxious about looking for love again, Miriam went on to offer her thoughts and Phillip Schofield ended up apologising for Miriam’s “Dickensian advice.”
In the chaotic interview, Miriam revealed that she had been with her partner for decades and been “faithful for the majority of it” but isn’t “lily white.”
As she hasn’t been on the dating scene she suggested: “I believe that there are dating websites like Grindr.”
“I’m not sure Leanne would be interested in that one,” Phil replied, as Holly Willoughby broke into a big grin.
“Is that a gay one?” she asked, as Phil confirmed it is. She continued: “Ooh sorry, I don’t want you to go gay it’s not worth it at your time of life – well it’s an option.”
Instead, Miriam suggested: “Lose a bit of weight darling if you think you’re too fat to have sex, don’t eat too much at Christmas.”
The Harry Potter actress then suggested new ways to meet people in real life such as volunteering. She said: “Join a club like Photography or Line Dacning, something that brings you into contact with other people, go and volunteer at a centre for disadvantage folk.”
Miriam’s advice began to turn as she suggested volunteering with the “poor” and being careful as she might fall in love with a “cripple” as Phil apologised to viewers: “It’s all sounding a little bit Dickensian but you know what she means.”
She concluded her suggestions: “That’s my advice, lose a bit of weight and make sure you wash very carefully all the crevices and all the bits you find difficult to reach.”
Holly and Phil had broken into laughter as they covered their faces and tried to make light of the situation as Holly declared: “Happy Christmas!”
The chaos continued as Miriam’s phone went off live on air in her bag, all held by her assistant off-screen.
“Was that your phone?” Phil quizzed, as Miriam lowered her head and admitted: “I believe it was, that’s so embarrassing… I thought I’d turned it off.”
Phil revealed that the rule in the studio is if someone’s phone goes off, they have to know who called and sometimes even answer. But sadly, it was an unknown number which cut their fun short.
*This Morning airs from 10am weekdays on ITV and ITVHub
