'I've grown out of performing it' Miranda Hart reveals why she decided to scrap BBC sitcom
COMEDY star Miranda Hart has said she has outgrown her much-loved sitcom alter-ego.
Miranda Hart admitted she's a bit embarrassed about her character's clumsiness
This year's Miranda Christmas specials will be the final ever episodes of the popular BBC one show, and the actress hopes the show goes out on a high.
The 41-year-old revealed she will miss playing Miranda but at times does find the role slightly embarrassing.
In an interview with Radio Times, she said: "She couldn't stay in that 'getting it wrong' place perpetually. Well, she could, that's the sitcom, but I feel it's time for her to learn a bit and grow a bit and start to like herself a bit," she said of her accident-prone, unlucky-in-love on-screen persona.
"And when she knows what do, she's not funny any more. She's come into her own - and once she's come into her own, we've done her. It's over."
Miranda's accident-prone character in the sitcom
The sitcom has ran since 2009
She added: "I will really miss her – she has been so very good to me. But I'm terrified of not leaving on a high, plus I think in some way I've grown out of performing it.
"When I trip over, or sing, or do fruit people - I think, 'Oh come on Sitcom Miranda Person, that's a bit embarrassing now'."
And it turns out clumsiness isn't a trait the star shares with her character.
"I don't think I've ever really fallen over in the street," she said.
"Except for the classic little pavement trip and we'll all do that to our dying day. I hope. I find it funny, not embarrassing now."
Miranda, which was first broadcast on BBC2 in 2009 before moving to BBC1, also stars Patricia Hodge, Sarah Hadland and Tom Ellis.
The star has said she'd like to take a step back from comedy
The actress, who was recently mistaken for a woman dressed up as Miranda by trick-or-treaters at Halloween, said she was "very low on my looks" when she made the first two series of Miranda.
She said: "It's only now I'm beginning to think I might be allowed to consider myself attractive. It's not fame that brings you confidence that's for sure."
The sitcom appealed to teenagers because her character is living out an inner turmoil that they can relate to, she said.
Speaking of the future, the Call The Midwife star said that she'd like to take "a step back from the pressure of making people laugh" and "find the joy of it again".
She said: "I suppose I'm at a bit of a crossroads. In a nice way, I feel like my star has waned.
"My 'Oh my God' moment has been and it was lovely. Some people are terrified of that moment going - but another thing about being a bit older is that I'm fine with that, I always knew it wouldn't last."
Hart, who has been considering presenting an entertainment show with elements of The Generation Game, has accepted Miranda's run has came to a natural end.
"Dawn [French] and Jennifer [Saunders] are the queens of comedy and will always be national treasures - but their moment of, 'Oh my God' has been and gone too. Everyone only gets the initial 'Wow' thing once."