It’s more than 40-years since Micheal Parkinson’s toe-curling clash with a young Helen Mirren – but the chatshow legend STILL isn’t prepared to say sorry for his creepy line of questioning.
Parky was slammed for his sexism in the awkward encounter, in which he introducing the star as a “sex queen”, praised her “sl*ttish eroticism” and then asked her if her, ahem, ‘equipment’ gets in the way of her aspirations to become a serious actress.
Guess Dame Helen had the last laugh on that one.
“OK, maybe I was a bit over-reactive to Ms Mirren,” he told OK! Magazine. “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 her knuckles. I mean, we didn’t like each other.”
Half-dressed? Er, that’d be a dress, Parky.
Anyway, he made it plain that a reconciliation has never been on the cards between the sparring pair. In fact, they don’t like each other.
“I don’t want to,” he said. “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.
“Am I sexist? No, I’m Yorkshire.”
Clearly in combative form, 81-year-old Parky was also less then complimentary about some of his chat-show rivals in the interview – including the late, great Terry Wogan.
“I wouldn’t ever say that Terry Wogan’s claim to fame was as an interviewer,” he said. Not at all.”
Graham Norton, James Corden and Jonathan Ross also got a tongue-lashing, with the star claiming the latter’s best days as a chatshow host are well behind him. Ouch!