Miriam Margolyes reveals she hasn’t ‘got long to live’ in candid admission

At 84, beloved actress and comedian Miriam Margolyes is confronting her mortality head-on, telling fans she may only have “five or six years” left to live.

During a recent interview with The Times, Margolyes confessed she’s likely in the final chapter of her life — and she’s not ready to give up the stage just yet.

“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 told the publication, as per The Mirror.

“I yearn to play roles that don’t confine me to wheelchairs, but I’m just not strong enough.”

Her sobering admission comes amid a difficult battle with ongoing health challenges. Margolyes recently revealed she is “registered disabled” and struggles to walk after undergoing a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), alongside a diagnosis of spinal stenosis.

“I can’t walk very well, and I’m registered disabled, so I use all kinds of assistance. I’ve got two sticks and a walker and they’re such a bore, but I’ve just got a mobility scooter, which is a lot of fun,” she revealed to Closer.

“It’s like having a new toy. It’s very good for shopping because it’s got a basket on it – and I do enjoy whizzing around on it immensely.”

Although her mobility scooter has offered her some respite from her health woes, she admits that following her TAVR procedure she is now worried that she has a “dicky heart”.

Alongside her physical limitations, Margolyes is also grappling with the financial realities of ageing — particularly the high cost of care she may soon require.

“I’m worried that I won’t have enough money for carers when I finally get paralysed or whatever it is that’s going to happen to me,” she said in a previous interview with Radio Times.

“I’m saving up cash so that I can pay people to look after me and my partner. We don’t have children, so I need to make sure I’m going to be looked after in the way that I’ve become accustomed.”

Later in the interview, Margolyes opened up about her thoughts on death and what she believes is waiting for her in the afterlife.

“I’m always quoting William Saroyan, who says: ‘I know that everyone has to die, but I thought an exception might be made in my case.’ I know now that is definitely not true,” she shared.

“What do I think happens after death? My therapist used to say there may be a party. I honestly don’t think there’s anything, I think you just stop, but it would be nice if there’s a party.”