The BAFTAs is the most prestigious Brit film ceremony and, for more than seven decades, Hollywood’s finest stars have descended on London to attend it.
Of course the BAFTAs would not have been the same without the long list of hosts who have presented it over the years and provided viewers with lots of funny and memorable moments.
This year’s event was hosted by Australian actress Rebel Wilson, with stars stepping out into the red carpet including Lady Gaga and Emma Watson.
Here, we take a look at what some previous hosts have been up to since they fronted the show.
Lenny Henry
(Image: GETTY IMAGES)
Legendary British actor, comedian, and presenter Lenny Henry hosted the BAFTAs in 1997 when he was at the height of his fame.
Among his long list of TV credits since his hosting of the BAFTas was the 2008 series he presented, lennyhenry.tv on BBC One, in which he showcased weird online videos and CCTV clips.
The co-founder of Comic Relief was knighted in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.
Henry guest starred in Spyfall in January 2020, a two-part Doctor Who episode where he played technology billionaire Daniel Barton
In 2020 Henry appeared in BBC’s Big Night In show, which celebrated key workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
He is also set to star in upcoming Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Jonathan Ross
(Image: ITV Picture Desk)
Ross hosted the BAFTAs in 1999 and between 2007 and 2011 and was well known for his sharp, smutty, wit which had celebrities in stitches.
He launched his new chat show The Jonathan Ross Show in September 2011 and there have been 17 series to date.
In 2017, Ross was a team captain along with Frank Skinner on the ITV panel show, Don’t Ask Me Ask Britain and in December 2017, he presented Guess the Star, a one-off special for ITV.
Ross was announced as a judge for The Masked Singer UK in 2019 and the show aired from January 2020.
He appeared on Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word in 2020 in an episode which the TV chef teaches him how to kill lobster.
On March 4 last year, ITV announced Ross would be on the star panel of a brand new spin-off show of The Masked Singer UK called The Masked Dancer.
He and his family have also become favourites on Celebrity Gogglebox.
Stephen Fry
(Image: Getty Images North America)
Fry was a long-serving host of the annual ceremony, having presented it a total of 12 times in two stints between 2002 and 2006 and 2012 and 2018.
He provided one of the most adorable moments of the awards in 2015 when he was a newly married man.
Fry insisted kissing was a British tradition in his opening speech and later received smackers from Michael Keaton, Edward Norton Cuba Gooding Jr.
Fry announced he was stepping down as host of the BAFTA in 2018 “let others have a go”.
The presenter announced that he was recovering from an operation to treat prostate cancer, which he described as aggressive and said that early intervention had saved his life.
In April 2020, Fry appeared in a sketch alongside Prince William for a charity show titled The Big Night In on BBC One.
Fry supported the petition of two Holocaust survivors, Dorit Oliver-Wolff and Ruth Barnett in February last year.
The pair were calling for the “genocide amendment” to the trade bill, which would allow an independent parliamentary judicial committee to examine evidence of genocide.
Joanna Lumley
(Image: BBC)
Lumley took over hosting duties from Stephen Fry in 2018 and presented it for the next two years running.
But Lumley was not the most popular presenter – and was named the “worst host in BAFTA history” by The Guardian following her opening monologue of the 2019 awards which bombed with the audience.
Many of Lumley’s jokes resulted in total silence from the BAFTA audience, including a gag about actress Glenn Close, nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Wife.
Lumley joked: “A lot of men here have already moved on to the sequel, The Second Wife.”
The star was named in New Years Honours list for 2022 .
She was handed a damehood for her services to drama, entertainment and charity.
She said in a statement after her honour was announced: “I am astonished and thrilled and touched beyond words to receive this colossal honour. It comes as a complete and unexpected surprise, and is the kindest and most beautiful present imaginable.”
Lumley was robbed at gunpoint in March 2020 while filming two-part documentary called Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana To Haiti.
And she recently finished filming her series Great Cities Of The World, which saw her visit Rome, Paris and Berlin, with the show set to air in the coming weeks.
Graham Norton
The comedian turned presenter hosted the BAFTAs in 2020 and was applauded in his opening monologue for referencing diversity after the awards were criticised for mainly celebrating white actors.
Norton called this “the year when white men finally broke through” and described superhero movie Joker, which had the most nominations at 11, as “the story of a white man who makes himself even whiter”.
It was announced by the event’s organisers in 2021 that he would not be presenting the event – and instead hosting duties would be led by Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary.
Bosses did not reveal the reasons why he was not being invited back.
Since then Graham been the voice of Moonwind, a spiritual sign twirler, in the Disney/Pixar animated feature Soul in 2020.
Last year he hosted Queen of the Universe, a drag queen singing competition, with contestants trying to impress four judges who come from backgrounds in the worlds of music, drag, and reality TV competitions.
This year he judged RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World – a spin-off series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, In which he is also a judge.
Graham also continues to present his show The Graham Norton Show, which sees him grill celebrities.
For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
