Sexist? No, I’m just Yorkshire
Parky blasts back over ‘sluttish eroticism’ row with Helen Mirren
IT WAS a famous TV clash that sparked a huge row over sexism – yet Michael Parkinson has defiantly insisted he has nothing to apologise for over his showdown with actress Helen Mirren.
More than 40 years after their chat-show confrontation, the veteran broadcaster known to millions as Parky admits he still hasn’t buried the hatchet with Mirren – and never will.
The pair came face to face in 1975 when Ms Mirren was still years away from the stardom that would bring an Oscar and a Damehood.
Parky introduced her to his audience as the ‘sex queen’ of the Royal Shakespeare Company, told her she was good at ‘sluttish eroticism’ and asked if her ‘equipment’ got in the way of her being recognised as a serious actress.
Outraged, she fired back: ‘Serious actresses can’t have big bosoms, is that what you mean?’
Parkinson recalls the awkward encounter in an exclusive interview in today’s Event magazine and says: ‘OK, maybe I was a bit over-reactive to Ms Mirren.
‘On the other hand, she presented a provocative figure as she walked down the stairs carrying a feather boa, half dressed as I recall, with love and hate tattooed on to her knuckles. I mean, we didn’t like each other.’
He makes it clear that reconciliation has never been on the cards, saying: ‘I don’t want to. Nor does she. I don’t regard what happened as being anything other than good television.
‘There is no need to apologise, not at all. I’ve not done anything that I’m ashamed of.’ And he adds: ‘Am I a sexist? No, I’m Yorkshire.’
Parkinson also takes aim at some of his chat show host rivals, including the late Sir Terry Wogan. ‘I wouldn’t ever say that Terry Wogan’s claim to fame was as an interviewer. Not at all,’ he tells Event.
Graham Norton, James Corden and Jonathan Ross get short shrift too, with Parkinson making it clear that he thinks Ross’s best days are behind him.