Christmas advert season is officially upon us and one of this year’s commercials has caused a stir with right-wing commentators.
The Boots ad, ‘Make Magic’, features Mrs Claus putting in lot of effort into preparing for Christmas — while Santa snores in his chair.
As has become customary with festive ads, the Boots video features a well-known star: Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh. She stars as the super-organised Mrs Claus who gets the ‘werkshop’ elves on track.
But who is Andoh?
From her most famous roles to her previous controversy, here’s everything you need to know.
Adjoa Andoh’s personal life
Born in Bristol on January 14, 1963, Andoh grew up in Gloucestershire after her family moved there for her Ghanaian dad’s job with British Aerospace. Her English mother worked as a teacher, while her father was a journalist and musician.
She married lecturer Howard Cunnell in 2001 and the couple have three children — Jesse, Daisy and Liam.
Born the middle daughter of three girls in London, Liam revealed in his early teens that he felt like “a boy trapped in a girl's body”.
What TV shows and films has she appeared in?
Andoh has appeared in many popular shows during her decades in the entertainment industry.
She made her TV debut in EastEnders, playing a woman called Karen in 1990. She’s also appeared in Jonathan Creek, Line of Duty, Law & Order: UK, Silent Witness, Death in Paradise and Wire in the Blood.
Before joining the cast of Bridgerton, her most well-known role was BBC medical drama Casualty. She played Colette Griffiths from 2000 to 2003.
Her film appearances include her Hollywood debut in the 2009 film Invictus, in which she played Nelson Mandela’s chief of staff Brenda Mazibuko.
She’s also appeared in radio dramas — including the BBC’s long-running hit The Archers — treading the boards in theatre productions for the likes of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, the Almeida Theatre and The Young Vic.
Gamers may recognise her, too, as she provided the voice for Sona in the 2017 action role-playing game Horizon Zero Dawn.
Who does she play in Bridgerton?
Andoh is best known for portraying Lady Agatha Danbury in the hit Netflix Regency romance series Bridgerton.
Her character is an old friend of the central Bridgerton family and the royals — and one of the few people Queen Charlotte will take advice from.
She starred in all three seasons of the drama and also appeared in the spin-off series, Queen Charlotte.
Controversial comments on the Royal Family
In 2023, she sparked an outcry after calling the royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony at King Charles III’s Coronation “terribly white”.
Andoh’s remark was on ITV’s live coverage of the celebrations, sparking more than 8,000 viewer complaints, which Ofcom said was the most of 2023.
Andoh clarified what she meant in an interview with Radio 4 the next day. “I was talking about the day and how marvellous it was and then looking at the balcony at the end and suddenly going: ‘Oh it’s so white’, because the day had been so mixed and I didn’t mean to upset anybody,” she said.
Nevertheless, the comment has fuelled right-wing commentators on X (formerly Twitter) to claim that the 2024 Christmas Boots advert is “un British”. Some people have said they will now only shop at Superdrug.
