As her alter ego Marg Delahunty, comedian Mary Walsh spent years fearlessly ambushing Canadian politicians, skewering them with barbs and insults phrased as friendly advice.

But for Walsh, every ambush was always “deeply, deeply terrifying.”

“You only had one shot. It wasn’t like you could do it again,” said Walsh, who played the fictional Delahunty on CBC satirical news show This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Walsh would turn up to press briefings sporting large glasses and often violent shades of blush and eye shadow. She wore a breastplate and mini skirt — inspired by the hit 90s TV show Xena: Warrior Princess — and waited to pounce as politicians took questions from journalists.

“Everybody else was dressed appropriately. And I was there in a few bits of red felt with gold glue around my breasts, brandishing a plastic sword from Toys “R” Us," she told The Current’s Matt Galloway.

“I would just feel so embarrassed and ashamed. I would think, 'Well, shag it. I’ve got nothing to lose, certainly not any shred of human dignity.’ And you know, I’d just go for it.”

Greatest hits of the fearless Marg Delahunty, Princess Warrior – https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/1.4320213