Covid 19 coronavirus: Harry Potter star 'wanted Boris Johnson to die'

Boris Johnson, the UK's Prime Minister, was struck down by coronavirus and hospitalised. Photo / Getty Images

A Harry Potter star has shocked television watchers in the UK by revealing she "wanted Boris Johnson to die" from Coronavirus.

According to The Sun, Miriam Margoyles, who played Professor Pomona Sprout in the Harry Potter movies, was asked on UK show The Last Leg Locked Down Under, what she thought about how the government had handled the pandemic.

"Appallingly, of course, appallingly. It's a disgrace, it's a scandal. It's a public scandal," she told shocked presenters Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdecombe.

Miriam Margoyles, who played Professor Pomona Sprout in the Harry Potter movies, shocked viewers with her comments. Photo / Channel 4

"I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die. I wanted him to die. Then I thought that will reflect badly on me and I don't want to be the sort of person that wants people to die.

"So then I wanted him to get better, which he did do, he did get better. But he didn't get better as a human being. And I really would prefer that.

"So we're in the s***, basically, here."

Miriam Margoyles as Professor Pomona Sprout. Photo / Warner Brothers

Many viewers were horrified by Margoyles' stance, with many taking to Twitter in support:
One wrote: "I love The Last Leg but I don't like Miriam Margolyes saying she wishes Boris dead."

Another wrote: "Miriam's comment on Boris ... disgusting".

But not everyone disagreed with her.

One Twitter user wrote: "I think #MiriamMargolyes is brilliant. People should be disgraced at the loss of life in this country. I hope we still have free speech."

And another shared that the actress' comments were "like a breath of fresh air".

During the interview Margoyle also shared that she had felt lonely in isolation. In the UK, the government has advised all over the age of 70 to self-isolate for a period of three months.

Johnson was hospitalised and recovered in St Thomas' hospital after being fitted with a tube and being put on oxygen.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website