Female comics are always judged on their looks, says Miranda Hart

Miranda Hart has said female comedians are given a rougher ride than men because they are always judged on their looks.

She said she hates looking in the mirror – and had to stop reading her reviews because they always mentioned the way she appears.

The 38-year-old said: ‘As a woman, it seems you can't just be a comedian, you're always classed as something else too, whether that's “beautiful”, “pint-sized”, “larger-than-life’ or in my case “Hattie Jacques-esque”, “the giraffe,”, “big”.

‘A fat male comedian isn't a “fat comedian”, he's just a comedian. It's really frustrating. I know I set it up in a way because my character is an eater, and I've made a few jokes about my height, but I'm not saying these things are negative or character defining. I'm embracing them.

‘I used to read [reviews], but I had to stop after a while. One of those comments is OK, you can deal with it, but if you read 60 even the strongest person would start feeling low.’

She told Stylist magazine that she especially disliked the constant references to Hattie Jaques – the subject of a BBC Four drama next week.

‘For the record she was a comedy goddess, but she was 25 stone. I hope I'm right in saying I'm not in any way nearly 25 stone,’ Hart said.

Published: 12 Jan 2011