Miriam Margolyes swipes at Strictly and says bosses were ‘f*****g nuts’ to ask | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Miriam Margolyes says she turned down chances to appear on Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity… Find Out Here!

The 82-year-old made the revelation during a recent recording of Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s award-winning podcast, A dish from Waitrose.

After chatting about her book, Oh Miriam! Stories from an Extraordinary Life, the Harry Potter actor revealed that the heads of both the BBC and ITV had come to blows.

“I only wrote it because they offered me a lot of money,” Miriam admitted. “That’s true, that’s true.

“Well, when you’re old and you know your earning capacity is diminishing, you have to get the money while you can.

“I won’t do that, what do you call it? The dance thing.”

Nick, 39, revealed that the show the star was referring to was Strictly, before Angela, 55, asked: “Strictly. They asked you to do that a few times?”

Miriam replied: “Yes, they must be f*****g nuts. And they asked me to go into the jungle.”

When asked if it was something “hard to do without”, the author said: “There is class, I love it. I’m not doing that”.

She also claimed that instead of competing for the Glitterball Trophy and taking part in the Bushtucker Trials, she decided to tackle her memoir.

“I thought, ‘I’ll write a book’,” she said.

Elsewhere in the conversation, the 82-year-old discussed being true to herself and where her bold confidence comes from.

She said: “I’ve never had complete confidence. I guess I’ve always felt that people like me. Because I know I’m a nice person.

“I’m not trying to hurt or hurt anyone, I just want people to relax. But I like to surprise them sometimes.”

She also admitted that she often says things that are “a bit naughty” because people’s reactions allow her to “get a little bit closer to them”.

The revelation comes just weeks after Miriam issued a health update regarding her recent heart operation.

Appearing on season 16 of the Jessie and Lennie Ware Tableau Podcast, the star discussed transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to improve blood flow to the heart.

“I have a cow’s heart now,” she explained. “Well, not the whole heart. I have had my aortic valve replaced with a cow aortic valve.

“I don’t know how common it is … but it saves you from having open heart surgery, which would be much more invasive.”

Explaining the procedure, Miriam told the mother-daughter duo that surgeons made “two small holes” in her stomach and the aortic valve “slid” through.

“And then when it comes to the point, when it’s in your heart, they pull a little string and it goes big! And lo and behold, your artery or aortic valve is abnormally stuck to the side.”

Earlier this year, the Romeo + Juliet actress also announced that she thinks about death “every day” because of her health.

She said: “When you’re young, you never think about death. You basically don’t think about your next f**k. I often think about death.”

Miriam continued to tell Vogue “Every morning” when she gets up she thinks today is another day “that she didn’t expect”.

You can now listen to Miriam Margolyes’ appearance on the Dish from Waitrose podcast.