Miriam Margolyes On Love, Sex And Coming Out
Image: Miriam Margolyes. Image: ABC TV
Actress Miriam Margolyes has spoken about her personal life, including her first lesbian sexual experience.
During an interview on the Rosebud Podcast with Gyles Brandreth, Margolyes shared that she knew her partner of over fifty years, Heather was the one from the moment they met.
“We arranged to meet at the cinema and it was The Charge of the Light Brigade. And I looked at her and I thought, you’re the one. You are. That’s what I want for the rest of my life.
The moment I saw her I had no doubt. And of course, she had not a clue. She was white-haired. That was key for me,” Margolyes’ said.
Coming Out
Miriam spoke about her first lesbian sexual experience. “And when it happened to me, that I was punctured, entered, deflowered. I’m not sure what you’d call it. I was given a good going-over by a woman and it was just fabulous. When you have good sex for the first time you honestly think, ‘Whoopee I might do that again’.”
Margolyes came out as lesbian in 1966 when homosexuality was illegal. She confided in her mother about her same-sex relationship but has stated that she regrets telling her mother as she passed away from a stroke shortly after.
The actress told journalist and podcaster Elizabeth Day, “I have profound regrets that I told my mother that I was having a sexual relationship with a woman. It was indulgent of me. It was partly because I told her everything. We always confided in each other. I had nothing hidden from her”.
“When you have good sex for the first time you honestly think, ‘Whoopee I might do that again’”, she added.
Margolyes’ mother had hoped for a conventional Jewish relationship for her.
The Babe actress advised people to think about their families before sharing information about their sexuality, saying, “I loved her with all my heart… I didn’t know it was going to have such an effect, but I should have thought about it. That’s what I always say to people who are working out whether to tell their families or not- tell them if they can bear it, and if they can’t bear it, don’t tell them”.
