13 August 2025
Dame Helen Mirren says tomatoes are bisexual.
Dame Helen Mirren says tomatoes are bisexual
The 80-year-old actress made the claim to chat show host Jimmy Fallon as he prepared some fresh salsa for Mirren and her Thursday Murder Club co-star Pierce Brosnan during an interview.
She said: “A tomato is a bisexual thing, you see.”
Helen added that she had made the discovery “very recently” after she “had a problem” cultivating her own tomatoes.
She went on: “I looked it up very recently because I had a problem with my tomatoes. It’s bisexual, so you have to go around to each tomato, each flower, and go like this [and tremble them].”
“I just want to give you a tip about growing tomatoes. You know the little flower? Well, a good way to get a tomato out of a flower is you have to tremble the flower. You have to go like this with the flower. Did you know that? It’s legitimate!”
However, Jimmy was uncomfortable with her demonstration and said: “Stop doing that. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m not doing that at all to my tomatoes. Killing it is one thing! Doing that is something else.”
Tomatoes are considered to have “complete flowers” because they contain both male and female reproductive parts.
They often self-pollinate via being shaken by wind and insects.
Meanwhile, Helen recently admitted she feels “insulted” when people tell her she looks good for her age.
She is quoted by Britain’s Best magazine as saying: “I feel insulted! ‘You look good for your age’ is patronising. I hate that kind of comment.
“Be prepared, if you use that phrase, to be dissed in a major way!”
The MobLand star also loathes the term “ageing gracefully” because she is “not”.
Helen explained: “I am not ageing gracefully at all! I hate that term because it sounds like you have to be elegant and accepting, and, no, I am not.
“I am ageing with fun, with commitment, but not gracefully. Who cares about graceful?”
Pierce Brosnan is an Irish actor, film producer, and activist.
