Miriam Margolyes shared that she offered a “helping hand” to three men.

Harry Potter star reveals jaw-dropping story about her past: ‘Nobody would believe me’

Miriam Margolyes shared that she offered a "helping hand" to three men.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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December 30, 2025 1:00 p.m. ET

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Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. Credit:

Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett

Miriam Margolyes made the likes of will.i.am and Adam Lambert blush after sharing a raunchy story on *The Graham Norton Show* over a decade ago. The actress later revealed that there was more to the memory than she previously admitted to.

Most *Harry Potter* fans know Margolyes as the sweet, affable Professor Pomona Sprout in *Chamber of Secrets* and *Deathly Hallows Pt. 2*; however, Margolyes is just as notorious for her unfiltered, off-the-cuff humor.**

Maggie Smith, Miriam Margolyes, and Richard Harris in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'.

Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection

During an appearance on *The Graham Norton Show* in 2012, the *Age of Innocence* actress shared that she had given a soldier a "helping hand" after catching him touching himself in a tree. She returned to the talk show recently to promote her new book *The Little Book of Miriam* and revealed more details about that cheeky night.

There were more gentlemen that asked for her assistance that evening, Margolyes divulged. After servicing the troop, a "very nicely dressed gentleman" came up to her and requested she help him too.

"I didn't tell it on television because I felt nobody would believe me," she said.

Miriam Margolyes attends the Oxford Literary Festival 2025 on March 29, 2025.

David Levenson/Getty

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With a captivated audience that included Glenn Close, Alexander Skarsgård, and Nicola Coughlan, the actress recounted how she had "finished him off." As wild as the tale is, the story doesn't stop there.

"I was wiping my hand in the grass over there and lo and behold, this is the bit nobody believes, but it is true, a voice from the same place said, 'Hey, Miriam,'" she said. "And it was someone I knew. He was a young student that I had known in Oxford."

Margolyes did one last favor for her old friend, joking that she did "three for the price of one." Check out Margolyes on *The Graham Norton Show* below.

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