"This is the first time I’ve spoken about this publicly."
Dame Meera Syal has spoken publicly for the first time about being sexually assaulted by a fellow actor early in her career.
The actress and comedian, who entered the entertainment industry in the 1980s, revealed that the incident happened when she was working as a jazz singer in Covent Garden.
At the time, she was preparing to return to the West Midlands after struggling to establish herself in the entertainment industry.
She was invited to a gathering by an established older Asian actor, who was around the same age as her father and had connections with casting directors.
Hoping the meeting could help her career, Meera accepted the invitation.
But after dinner, she was left alone with the unnamed actor, who allegedly tried to rape her.
According to The Times, Meera “froze in fear but managed to clamp her legs together”, however, the actor continued the sexual assault.
She eventually left the actor’s home, got into a taxi and returned to the home of the friend she was staying with. She did not report the incident at the time.
Meera said she wanted to protect her parents from having to witness a public criminal trial and consequently told no one about what had happened that night.
Years later, she opened up about the experience to close female friends, who told her they had experienced similar incidents.
Meera Syal shared: “This is the first time I’ve spoken about this publicly.
“It completely changed my life and the direction of my career.
“I could have given up, but instead I sought out a group of South Asian writers.
“They encouraged me to write more, they found me a place to live, they healed me and awakened me politically.”
By the mid-1990s, Meera Syal had established herself as a household name through groundbreaking comedy programmes including Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42.
Meera Syal said processing the sexual assault also influenced the female characters she went on to write, with strong women becoming a defining feature of her work.
She has now shared the experience ahead of the release of her new memoir, Vigilauntie.
Reflecting on her early career, Meera also discussed how much the British television industry has changed since the late 1990s and early 2000s.
She added: “It was a golden age of sketch comedy, alternative comedy and Cool Britannia. There was a real embracing of multicultural Britain. How times have changed.”
