Mo Gilligan took a swipe at Miriam Margolyes as he presented an award at the National Television Awards in London on Tuesday night. 

The outspoken actress, 85, used an offensive term to describe ITV presenter Andi Peters’s skin colour during an appearance on This Morning last week. 

Making reference to the shocking comment, comedian Mo, 38, introduced himself to the audience and said: ‘If you know me, I’m Mo Gilligan. And if you don’t know me, then I’m Andi Peters.’

Mo drew gasps and nervous laughter from the audience after the comment, before he then announced the Factual Entertainment award had gone to Channel 4’s Gogglebox. 

The reference to the ‘racism’ row sparked debate on social media, with some branding the joke ‘funny’ while others said it ‘fell as flat as a pancake’. 

Mo Gilligan took a swipe at Miriam Margolyes as he presented an award at the National Television Awards in London on Tuesday night

The outspoken actress (pictured), 85, used an offensive term to describe ITV presenter Andi Peter’s  skin colour during an appearance on This Morning last week

Viewers wrote on X: ‘Mo Gilligan does make me laugh’ and ‘That was funny Mo’.

While another said: ‘That joke fell flat as a pancake’. 

ITV bosses were forced to intervene after the actress referred to Andi, 56, as ‘high yalla’. The clip, which was removed from the ITVX recording of the show, has since gone viral, with many viewers taking to X to express their outrage over Miriam’s comments. 

The term, which can also be spelled ‘high yaller’ or ‘high yellow’ is an outdated and offensive slang term used in the US to describe a black person with a light complexion.

After first impersonating presenter Christine Lampard’s Northern Irish accent, Miriam turned to Andi and asked: ‘But what accent would be normal for you?’

‘This is normal. This is what I am,’ replied Andi, as Miriam continued: ‘Oh, you’re a mix, aren’t you? You’ve got a black daddy and a white mummy.’ 

‘No, no, no. Both my parents are black,’ confirmed Andi, before he joked: ‘What have they put on me, am I a lighter shade than normal?’ 

Miriam continued: ‘Both parents are I think you’re what I would call a “high yalla.” That’s what they call it in America. Oh, when someone isn’t deeply black, right?’

Making reference to the shocking comment, comedian Mo introduced himself to the audience and said: ‘If you know me, I’m Mo Gilligan. And if you don’t know me, then I’m Andi Peters’ 

ITV bosses were forced to intervene after the actress referred to Andi, 56, as ‘high yalla’

The reference to the ‘racism’ row sparked debate on social media, with some branding the joke ‘funny’ while others said it ‘fell as flat as a pancake’

‘I didn’t even know there were shades,’ said Andi, as Miriam added: ‘There are shades.’

Worried about the direction of the conversation, producers are thought to have issued a warning to Andi through his earpiece – with him then saying out loud: ‘Oh, okay. They’re getting nervous now. They’re getting nervous now.’

‘Don’t be nervous,’ reassured Miriam, ‘We welcome everybody. That’s what I want to write about in my book. It’s about inclusion.’

Miriam later addressed the backlash as she said: ‘I didn’t want to embarrass or hurt Andi because he seems very nice.

‘I’d never met him before; I didn’t know who he was and I didn’t know he was black until I saw him. When you see someone, of course you know they’re black. 

‘I wanted to know what he thought about it because that’s what interests me.’

Miriam then used an offensive term for disabled people as she continued: ‘How do black people feel? How do brown people feel? How do cripples feel? How do fat people feel?

‘You see what I mean? All of us feel something about who we are and how people see us, what they think of us.’

The host interjected to clarify that ‘in other words you wanted to discuss his identity with him’, to which the actress was in full agreement.

‘I am fascinated by other people,’ she continued. ‘They are the people that interest me, not the celebrities so much. It’s everybody. What their story is, what made them who they are, why you are the way you are.’