‘Lose a bit of weight, darling’: Miriam Margolyes deals out dubious dating advice on This Morning

Miriam Margolyes has doled out her rather unconventional dating advice for any single people looking for love this festive season.

The British-Australian actor, who is known for her candid and honest manner, made a slew of suggestions for those seeking romance during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.

Margolyes took viewers’ calls with hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby and was asked by a caller named Leanne how she can become more confident in dating.

At first, the Harry Potter star suggested dating websites and apps, “like Grindr”, although she appeared not to realise that it specifically caters to gay communities.

Schofield chimed in and said: “I’m not entirely sure if Leanne would be interested in that one.”

After confirming that Grindr is a “gay one”, Margolyes added: “Sorry. I don’t want you to go gay.” Schofield couched her response by saying: “That may certainly be an option, but I’m still not sure that’s the right one for Leanne.”

Changing tack, Margolyes suggested: “What you should do – lose a bit of weight, darling, if you think you’re too fat to have sex, lose a bit of weight. Don’t eat too much for Christmas, because we all do.”

She also recommended joining a hobby club that would “bring you in contact with other people”.

The second part of her advice was to “go volunteer at a centre for disadvantaged, poor people and cripples” because “you might meet another cripple”.

Schofield ended the segment by saying: “It’s all sounding a bit Dickensian, but you know, God bless us every one!”

A Twitter user filmed the clip with the sound of her laughing in disbelief at Margolyes’ bizarre dating advice.

Posting the video on the social media platform, she wrote: “I don’t know how Philip and Holly kept it together [on] This Morning.

“Just to clarify, the laughter is pure disbelief at what I was hearing. I don’t usually watch daytime TV so was surprised at the lack of filter!”

Margolyes made headlines in October for saying “f*** you” live on the Today programme in reaction to seeing the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in the BBC Radio 4 studio.

She told hosts Justin Webb and Martha Kearney that his presence incensed her. “I said, ‘You’ve got a hell of a job, best of luck’. And what I really want to say was, ‘F*** you, bastard’. But you can’t say that.”

Webb replied: “Oh no no no you mustn’t say that. We’ll have to have you out of the studio now.”