Helen Mirren was left rather unimpressed with Alex Scott after her use of the word "feisty" during The One Show on Wednesday night. Following an aired montage of the actress, the Strictly Come Dancing contestant - who was hosting the weekly show alongside Matt Baker - told viewers she admired the Oscar-winning star for all the "strong, feisty women" she has played. Upon hearing the remark, Helen quipped: "I have to say I don't like the word feisty. I don't know why. I think it's because it's always related to women."
© Photo: Getty ImagesHelen Mirren is not a fan of the word feisty
"They never say feisty man, kid maybe, but I find it slightly insulting, I don't know why. I want to find another word," she added, to which a slightly surprised Alex replied, "Oh". Viewers took to Twitter to praise Alex on keeping her composure, with one saying: "Helen Mirren just put down Alex Scott because she called her feisty in some of the roles she played… I think Alex Scott handled it brilliantly." Another tweeted: "Helen Mirren - think Alex Scott was actually paying you a compliment."
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This is not the first time Helen has made comments on such words. In 2015, the actress revealed that branding a woman "sassy" can be "insulting". She told The Times: "Only women are feisty. It just makes me gag. We need new words for female power and funniness and smartness." She added: "I was thinking about the seventies which, unfortunately, was when I was at my prime, age-wise. Men saw that [era] as a sort of, 'Oh fantastic. We can [explicit] anything, however we like, whenever we like! They're up for grabs, boys!' It was that kind of attitude."
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