Married At First Sight’s Jessika Power has hit back at Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes over her controversial comments about living in Australia.
The 79-year-old actress offended many Queenslanders on Monday by saying people should be ashamed to live in high-rise buildings in Surfers Paradise.
English-born Miriam, who became an Australian citizen in 2013, called the vast development of the Gold Coast tourist hotspot ‘brutal’ and ‘greedy’.
Feud: MAFS’ Jessika Power (L) has hit back at Harry Potter’s Miriam Margolyes (R) after she said people should be ‘ashamed’ to live in ‘greedy’ and ‘overdeveloped’ Surfers Paradise
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, Jessika, who has called the Gold Coast home for many years, disagreed with Miriam’s ‘privileged’ comments.
‘Its easy for someone with money to say something like that,’ said Jessika, 28.
‘Those type of [high-rise] apartments are all that some people can afford, and it gives people a bit of luxury too. The hotels bring in so many tourists that Australia needs.’
Jessika’s co-star Ines Basic, 29, who fled Bosnia with her family and emigrated to Australia as a child, said the Gold Coast is ‘a great place to live’ in response.
Valid: Jessika, who calls the Gold Coast home, disagreed with her ‘privileged’ comments, saying high-rise buildings bring in vital tourists and are all some locals can afford to live in
‘She probably cares more about nature’: Ines Basic (pictured), who fled war-torn Bosnia with her family as a child and emigrated to Australia, said the Gold Coast is ‘a great place to live’
‘I grew up on the Gold Coast and I’m back here again and honestly I don’t want to live anywhere else. I love it,’ added Ines, before sympathising with Miriam.
‘I don’t really go to Surfers Paradise but everyone’s entitled to their opinion. It’s not too bad. She probably just cares about nature more than the developments. She’s been around since before the 1980s so probably knows it better than I do.’
Miriam’s controversial remarks have divided Queenslanders on Facebook.
Some said they ‘won’t be watching any shows she appears in’ any more, with others agreeing: ‘There are way too many greedy developers and investors in this country’.
Whingeing Pom: The expat British actress, 78, said on Monday she was horrified by the ‘brutality’ and ‘greed’ of her adopted home country
The expat British actress, 78, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, said on Monday she was horrified by the ‘brutality’ and ‘greed’ of her adopted home country.
She recently travelled from coast to coast filming ABC documentary series Almost Australian, and came to the realisation the country was ‘much more complicated’ than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s.
‘We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don’t. It’s quite complicated. It’s layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it’s harsher than it was. Maybe that’s true in the world,’ she told TV Tonight.
‘There’s a harshness about it, which I didn’t expect.’
‘Those horrible structures along the coast’: She said the most confronting part of filming ABC documentary series Almost Australian was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers (pictured)
Margolyes lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales with her longtime partner, Heather Sutherland, a retired Australian professor of Indonesian studies.
She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
‘There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don’t like,’ she said.
‘You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it’s disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don’t go there. It’s not my world and I don’t want to go there.’
Adopted Aussie: The BAFTA-winning actress became a naturalised citizen in January 2013 after years of dividing her time between London and Australia
Famous role: Margolyes, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, lives in the NSW Southern Highlands with her partner. Pictured with (L-R) Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets