Miriam Margolyes, 85, appeared on ITV's This Morning to promote her new book, Miriam's Full English: A Grand Tour of All Our Best Bits. During the interview, she engaged in a lighthearted but controversial discussion with host Andi Peters and co-host Christine Lampard about their backgrounds. Margolyes began by impersonating Lampard's Northern Irish accent and then asked Peters about his accent, to which he replied, "Well, this is my normal accent." The conversation shifted when Margolyes asked, "What are you?" Peters responded, "What am I? I'm me." Margolyes then dropped the Irish accent and said, "Well, you're a mix, aren't you? So you've got a Black daddy and a white mummy." Peters corrected her, explaining that both his parents were Black. Margolyes then said, "I think you're what I would call high..." before Peters interrupted with a joke, asking if his makeup artist had used a "lighter shade than normal." Margolyes continued, stating, "I think you're high yella," which she explained was an historical American slang term used to describe a light-complexioned person of African descent. Peters asked, "What's high yella?" to which Margolyes replied, "That's what they call it in America, when someone isn't deeply Black." Peters attempted to defuse the situation by saying, "He didn't know there were shades," to which Margolyes responded, "There are shades, and this is what we..." Before she could finish, Peters explained that his producers were "getting nervous now." Margolyes said, "Don't be nervous. We welcome everybody, and that's what I want to write about in my book." Since the interview was broadcast, the part where Margolyes asked Peters about his race has been edited out of the version uploaded to ITVX, ITV's streaming service. Clips from the interview have been circulating online, with viewers expressing a range of reactions. Some viewers found the interaction embarrassing and expressed sympathy for Peters, while others criticized Margolyes for using what they considered racist language. Some alleged that the term "high yella" is offensive and colorist language that suggests a hierarchy within the Black community, where those with lighter skin have social privileges denied to those with a darker complexion. Metro has approached Margolyes, Peters, and ITV for comment.