Britt Ekland does not want a female Bond: 'That's not going to happen'

Britt Ekland has said a female James Bond is “not going to happen”.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, the Swedish actress also called the notion of getting rid of the name “Bond Girl” foolish.

“That’s not going to happen, we might as well not talk about it,” she said. “I don’t have any information. I know Barbara [Broccoli] and if I had any influence, I would whisper and say, ‘No, not a female Bond!’”

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Ekland starred in 1974 Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun, playing Bond's personal secretary Mary Goodnight opposite Roger Moore – her favourite Bond, she told GMB.

It was his second appearance as the British secret serviceman, and saw him tussle with Christopher Lee's assassin Francisco Scaramanga.

As for whether the term “Bond girl “should be ditched, she said: “‘Bond girls’ is a very nice title and it’s what people want. It doesn’t have the same ring, 'Bond woman'… My dog is gender-fluid.”

However, the segment got off to a rough start – presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid were left red-faced when a huge picture of another Swedish actress was shown on TVs on the show's set.

Asked, awkwardly, whether the unnamed actress was someone she often got confused with, Ekland said: “She went to a Bond premiere and they said, 'This is Britt Ekland,' but of course it wasn’t me because I wasn’t there.

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“Everyone knows what I look like.”

Not all former Bond stars agree with Ekland on the notion of a female 007, however.

Pierce Brosnan, who played the secret agent from 1995 to 2002, told reporters at the Deauville Film Festival last year: “I think we've watched the guys do it for the last 40 years – get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there.

“I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting.”

The latest Bond movie, No Time To Die, Daniel Craig's last as Bond, lands in the UK on 2 April.