Parky: The way I treated women could get me arrested today

SIR Michael Parkinson has said he could get arrested for the way he used to treat women if he acted like that today.

The broadcaster, 82, also insisted every man of a certain age questions whether their previous behaviour towards the opposite sex was appropriate.

He said: ‘Men are in a quandary. I mean, certainly if I was doing now what I did then, I would have to watch myself. I could get arrested.’

Sir Michael, who has been married to his wife Mary for almost 60 years, said in an interview for the April issue of GQ magazine: ‘But there isn’t a man of a certain age who doesn’t look back and wonder, “Was my behaviour entirely appropriate?”.’ He said there was a ‘Sexist’: Parkinson with Helen Mirren Fleet Street bar he used to frequent as a journalist where ‘women were treated disgracefully, like second-class citizens. It was woefully un-PC’.

Sir Michael famously fell out with Helen Mirren when he interviewed her on TV in 1975, describing her as the ‘sex queen’ of the Royal Shakespeare Company before asking if her ‘equipment’ – her figure – undermined her credibility as a serious actress. Outraged, she replied: ‘Serious actresses can’t have big bosoms, is that what you mean?’

Dame Helen, now 72, subsequently accused him of being a ‘sexist old fart’.

Sir Michael, who never made peace with the actress, refused to accept his comments were sexist when he was asked about them in 2016, saying: ‘If you didn’t live in that time, you’re not allowed an opinion.’

His comments to GQ follow a number of protests at awards ceremonies which saw celebrities support the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.