Miriam Margolyes' sex shop experience may have led to one of her most iconic roles - and you won't believe what it is

Miriam Margolyes' sex shop encounter is, according to the actor, potentially how she bagged the role of the voice of the Cadbury's bunny. The story behind it is not only hilarious, but just as filled with saucy content as you'd expect from the sex positive star.

A decades-long career on stage and screen means having a heck of a lot of interesting stories to recount. Just when you thought you couldn't be more shocked after Miriam Margolyes claims Arnold Schwarzenegger farted in her face (deliberately), the tale of how she hopped into the Cadbury's bunny role may leave you slack-jawed.

In conversation with the Guardian, Miriam answered readers' questions. After one curious reader enquired, "how did you get the job as the seductive voice of the sexy 1980s Cadbury Caramel bunny?" - the Romeo And Juliet star told the saucy tale behind it all.

Yes, believe it or not - the veteran actor is the voice behind one of the best known characters in 1990' British advertising, the sexy bob-tailed bunny with a voice as smooth as Cadbury's Caramel. 

Before her career became more established, Miriam worked a lot as a voice artist. "I have quite a high girlish voice," she explained, "but I can deepen it for the purposes of sex. I once recorded what I call 'take-home wanking tapes' such as Sexy Sonia: Leaves From My Schoolgirl Notebook." These audio recordings were for sale in sex shops at the time, and hers was one of the best known voices in the industry. 

So how the heck did that lead to her mainstream role? Well, she believes it was a chance encounter at an Ann Summers shop that may have changed everything. "One day, I went into Ann Summers and told the man behind the counter I was Sexy Sonia," she said. "He told me to keep my voice down because he didn’t want people to know Sexy Sonia was actually this short, fat, rather unattractive lady." 

However, it appears to have worked in her favor as word got out. "But word got out and maybe that prompted my being asked to voice the Cadbury bunny because, I suppose, sex sells. And chocolate has its place in the repertoire of love."

Miriam is known for her amorous language and enjoying discussing the joys of all things sex. The reason behind this, she admitted, is one of those long held maxims about people who talk a lot about sex. When asked about her worst habit, the actor said that perhaps it is talking about sex so much. "But it’s only because I don’t really have sex any more," she admitted. "I just like to remember it and talk about it."