Miriam Margolyes had certain requests for TV directors (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Miriam Margolyes has spoken about when she started ‘failing physically’ and has predicted when she believes she’s going to die.
The outspoken actress and author, who is joining Gogglebox for a Stand Up to Cancer Special, has opened up about her health.
The 83-year-old has now given more insight into her life after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis – a condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord.
In a recent interview, she went back to when she was diagnosed with the condition and the requests that she made of TV directors while filming for certain shows.
‘When I started kind of failing physically, I remember saying to directors and producers, please don’t show me clambering out of a car or climbing upstairs on my hands and knees,’ she said.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Miriam, who played Madame Sprout in two Harry Potter films, continued: ‘I didn’t want people to see that because I was embarrassed to see myself looking so pathetic.’
Miriam was diagnosed with spinal stenosis (Picture: PA)
However, in the years since her diagnosis, Miriam has said that she’s met countless people who have thanked her for being willing to show how she manages her condition in the public eye.
She said: ‘I’ve met loads of people who have said I gave them the courage to do things that they never thought they could. So I’m very pleased about that.’
In an interview with The Telegraph, she told the publication when she believes she’s going to die.
She starred as Professor Sprout in two Harry Potter films (Picture: Warner Bros)
People have thanked Miriam for being public with her diagnosis (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
‘When you know that you haven’t got long to live – and I’m probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before, I’m loath to leave behind performing. It’s such a joy,’ she said.
She said that she finds the physical constraints of old age ‘limiting and depressing’, adding: ‘I yearn to play roles that don’t confine me to wheelchairs, but I’m just not strong enough.’
The Call The Midwife actor shared that she had had heart surgery, undergoing a procedure called a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) which prevents a patient from needing open heart surgery.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, she said: ‘I’ve got a cow’s heart now. Well, not the whole heart. I’ve had an aortic valve replaced by a cow’s aortic valve.
‘I don’t know how common it is,’ she admitted. ‘I’d never heard of that operation. But it saves you from having open heart surgery, which would be infinitely more invasive.’
She then revealed the ‘rather amazing’ keyhole technique as she said that they made ‘two little holes in your groin’.
In the same episode, she also spoke about her mobility issues, revealing that she would soon be using a wheelchair.
‘I have a bad back. I’m probably going to be in a wheelchair soon. And you know, you have to come to terms with what life throws at you’ she said.
When Jessie asked her if she had been ‘preparing’ for it, Miriam admitted: ‘Not really preparing for it. I’ve just sort of accepted that it’s probably going to happen.’
In 2023, Miriam cited her weight as the cause of her spine issues shortly before she was spotted walking with the assistance of crutches.
Miriam has joined Gogglebox (Picture: Channel 4/PA Wire)
Speaking on the How To Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day, she lamented: ‘The one thing I have not conquered and should have conquered is my weight. I am a blubber mass. I am fat. And to be fat and 82 is truly pathetic.’
She continued: ‘It’s such a defeat. A cream bun, a chocolate, a helping of chopped liver is more important than your health and aesthetic presentation?
‘No, it isn’t more important, it’s just greed, lack of discipline, all the things I’m embarrassed by in myself.
‘It is a major failure and because of that I’ve got spinal stenosis, I can’t walk, I’m going to be in a wheelchair before I’m much older.’
This article was originally published on July 23.
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