Comedian Ronni Ancona has opened up about one of her regrets from her time on Big Impression during a recent appearance on BBC Breakfast.
Speaking to hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent, the 56-year-old discussed a recent Saturday Night Live sketch that mocked Sex Education and White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood’s physical appearance.
The actress portraying Aimee in the sketch sported fake teeth and an exaggerated accent. Aimee has since criticised the sketch as mean-spirited and unfunny.
When asked for her opinion on the matter, given her own history of celebrity impressions on Big Impression, Ronni expressed her support for Aimee.
She said: “Full disclaimer, I think she’s amazing, I think she’s unbelievably talented. Very funny and very talented and very beautiful actually. I do have an element of sympathy with her, I think if you watch the whole sketch , which I have.”
She added: “All the elements are political satire, then Aimee Lou isn’t, it’s the only element where it’s not about a politician.”
Ronni suggested that the writers were likely trying to draw a connection between Robert F Kennedy Jr’s campaign against fluoride in water and teeth, reports the Daily Record.
She remarked: “It was a bit of a cheap shot, really, because she’s quite right. I’m no dentist, but I don’t think fluoride changes the shape of your teeth. I think she’s got beautiful teeth.
“I think she was the victim of that old archetype, a very tired trope that British all have bad teeth, which I think we’re all rather tired of.”
The BBC hosts then revisited some of Ronnie’s memorable performances from her Big Impression days, wondering if she would still consider doing them now.
During the show, a flashback clip of Ronnie mimicking Victoria Beckham led to Sally asking: “Do you think you would do that today? Would that stand the test of time?”
Ronnie responded: “Funny enough, I regret some of the- I mean Victoria Beckham. Listen, we sort of caught the zeitgeist right at the beginning of this big celebrity culture that was emerging.”
Ronnie clarified for Jon and Sally how she envisioned what Victoria might say in private with David Beckham.
Continuing, she explained: “You wouldn’t be able to do that these days because of the advent of social media, everybody knows what everybody is going all the time! That’s why parody and satire are much harder to pull off nowadays.
Although she acknowledged certain aspects of the sketch that she approached carefully, she steered clear of commenting on physical appearance.
BBC Breakfast is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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