BAFTA hosts Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan poke fun at Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield amid their ‘feud’ and Gary Lineker’s Match Of The Day drama as they open awards
Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan took digs at the BBC, the Gary Lineker controversy and the furore over Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s visit to the late Queen’s lying in state as they opened the British Academy TV Awards with P&O Cruises with a string of ‘edgy’ jokes.
The pair kicked off the ceremony in London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night, with shows including The Crown, This Is Going To Hurt and Bad Sisters battling it out.
It comes after it was confirmed earlier in the day that Holly and Phil will both appear on This Morning on Monday, despite reports their friendship has completely broken down amid a tense 48 hours of talks.
Beckett said: ‘As we all know this year, there have been one or two issues with the subject of the BBC and balance. It’s not easy for comedians to host an award show on the BBC. We need to be funny. We need to be professional and also offer balanced views. This booking is perfect for balance.
‘I see a room filled with some of the hardest working and most talented people in TV all driven by a passion and a love for their craft.’
Savage! Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan took digs at the the furore over Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield ‘s visit to the late Queen’s lying in state as they opened the British Academy TV Awards
Tense: It comes after it was confirmed earlier on Sunday that Holly and Phil (pictured together on the show) will both appear on This Morning tomorrow, despite reports their friendship has completely broken down amid a tense 48 hours of talks
Ranganathan added: ‘Whereas I see a roomful of shark-eyed narcissists.’
The pair then chimed in unison: ‘Balance.’
Gesturing to Imelda Staunton, who is in the running for the Best Actress prize for her role as the late Queen in The Crown, Beckett said: ‘She’s nominated for her performance in The Crown.
‘Apparently, Holly and Phil got to watch that a couple of days before everybody else. A little bit of edge for you, early doors.’
The This Morning hosts were criticised on social media after they saw the late Queen lying in state without taking part in the public queue.
They later insisted they would ‘never jump a queue’ and their visit was for the purposes of reporting on the event.
Later Rob joked: ‘A few months back we were left hoping that The Traitors would be making a swift return to BBC One. Well that’s what some of the papers called the Match Of The Day presenters anyway. Are we edgy? I think we might be edgy.’
Lineker was briefly suspended as host of Match Of The Day in March over his criticism of the Government’s asylum policy on Twitter but returned to air following a boycott by top on-air talent at the broadcaster.
BAFTA TV AWARDS 2023: WINNERS AT A GLANCE
Best Drama Series: Bad Sisters
Leading Actor: Ben Whinshaw – This Is Going To Hurt
Leading Actress: Kate Winslet – I Am Ruth
Supporting Actor: Adeel Akhtar – Sherwood
Supporting Actress: Anne-Marie Duff – Bad Sisters
Male Performance In A Comedy: Lenny Rush
Female Performance In A Comedy: Siobhán McSweeney – Derry Girls
Single Drama: I Am Ruth
Memorable Moment: Party at the Palace – Paddington Meets The Queen
BAFTA Fellowship: Meera Syal
Brutal! The comedian’s kicked off the ceremony in London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night, with shows including The Crown, This Is Going To Hurt and Bad Sisters battling it out
Cheeky: They also poked fun at Gary Lineker (pictured) after he was briefly suspended as host of Match Of The Day in March over his criticism of the Government’s asylum policy
Uproar: They also joked about the ITV hosts after they criticised on social media after seemingly seeing the late Queen lying in state without taking part in the public queue (pictured)
Pundits and presenters dropping out of a host of football shows in solidarity with Lineker prompted two days of disruption to TV and radio schedules.
It was revealed that Holly and Phillip would both appear on Monday’s This Morning following two days of crisis talks, despite reports their friendship has completely broken down.
ITV have confirmed that despite the pair being at war with one another, they will attempt to put their differences aside for the show.
It has left staff at This Morning stunned, and fearing that it could end in disaster after tensions between the pair are said to have risen dramatically in recent weeks.
It was earlier revealed that Holly, 42, had reportedly begun contract negotiations with ITV bosses as she pushes for new terms following the breakdown of her friendship with Phillip, 61, whose future on the programme now hangs in the balance.
Fighting on: ITV have confirmed that despite the pair being at war with one another, they will attempt to put their differences aside for the show on Monday
It has been claimed Mr Schofield did not tell Ms Willoughby about the allegations of child sex offences against his brother Timothy
A close source said: ‘Nobody ever thought it would end like this. They were part of one another’s families and they spent a lot of their weekends socialising’
An insider claimed Phillip has been nicknamed ‘The Grim Reaper’ on This Morning by some people who don’t get on with him.
It was also revealed that it is ‘too late’ to save their friendship amid allegations Mr Schofield did not tell Ms Willougby that he was going off air earlier this year due to his brother being on trial for sexual offences against a teenage boy.
One insider said: ‘This will seriously undermine the show and its reputation. How can they both go on and pretend to have a laugh and a joke together.
‘Their friendship used to be genuine but it isn’t anymore so surely they will be making fools of their audience. But the fact is that neither will back down and how can you just tell one of them they are to stay at home?
‘The headlines that will come from them being on together could really damage show and its brand.’
Read more: It’s over! After 15 years, Holly Willoughby ‘cuts ties’ with This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield as the ITV duo’s friendship lies in TATTERS with the pair no longer speaking to each other when the cameras stop rolling
As the rift deepened, the This Morning presenter is said to have asked her team to reach out to ITV to negotiate a new contract in a bid to spur the channel into making a decision on the show’s future line-up.
Mr Schofield last week released a statement about their friendship without first consulting her, in which he admitted the last few weeks ‘haven’t been easy for either of us’.
As he made his statement, sources close to Ms Willoughby told MailOnline that she had no idea that Mr Schofield was going to make a statement. They added the first she saw of it was when it was published online.
Bosses are said to be in a major crisis, with reports Holly wants to pull the plug on their ITV partnership for good.
She previously put their growing differences aside because she felt strong loyalty towards her co-host, who was key to her landing the This Morning job in 2009.
They had previously been close friends, with Ms Willoughby being a ‘rock’ of support after her co-star came out as gay live on air.
A source close to Ms Willoughby on Saturday night told the Mirror: ‘Holly was considering her position on the show earlier this year, as she couldn’t see Phil being ousted.
‘But that is now a real possibility and she wants to see a decision made on both of their futures quickly. That is what is behind Holly asking her team to reach out to ITV – she is trying to move things forward.
‘There has been no bloodbath meeting yet, but that could well be to come. The sooner it happens, the sooner she can rebrand herself.’
BAFTA TV Awards Winners
DRAMA SERIES
Bad Sisters – WINNER
The Responder
Sherwood
Somewhere Boy
LEADING ACTOR
Ben Whishaw – This Is Going To Hurt – WINNER
Chaske Spencer – The English
Cillian Murphy – Peaky Blinders
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses
Martin Freeman – The Responder
LEADING ACTRESS
Billie Piper – I Hate Suzie Too
Imelda Staunton – The Crown
Kate Winslet – I Am Ruth – WINNER
Maxine Peake – Anne
Sarah Lancashire – Julia
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Adeel Akhtar – Sherwood – WINNER
Jack Lowden – Slow Horse
Josh Finan – The Responder
Salim Daw – The Crown
Samuel Bottomley – Somewhere Boy
Will Sharpe – The White Lotus
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adelayo Adedayo – The Responder
Anne-Marie Duff – Bad Sisters – WINNER
Fiona Shaw – Andor
Jasmine Jobson – Top Boy
Lesley Manville – Sherwood
Saffron Hocking – Top Boy
MALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Daniel Radcliffe – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Jon Pointing – Big Boys
Joseph Gilgun – Brassic
Lenny Rush – Am I Being Unreasonable? – WINNER
Matt Berry – What We Do In The Shadows
FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY PROGRAMME
Daisy May Cooper – Am I Being Unreasonable?
Diane Morgan – Cunk On Earth
Lucy Beaumont – Meet The Richardsons
Nastasia Demetriou – Ellie & Natasia
Siobhán McSweeney – Derry Girls – WINNER
Taj Atwal – Hullraisers
INTERNATIONAL
The Bear
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – WINNER
Wednesday
Oussekine
Pachinko
The White Lotus
MINI-SERIES
A Spy Among Friends
Mood – WINNER
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe
This Is Going To Hurt
SINGLE DRAMA
I Am Ruth – WINNER
The House
Life and Death In The Warehouse
SPORT
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 – WINNER
Wimbledon 2022
DAYTIME
The Chase
The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit – WINNER
Scam Interceptors
THE P&O CRUISES MEMORABLE MOMENT AWARD
Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace – Paddington Meets The Queen
BAFTA SPECIAL AWARD
Professor David Olusoga OBE
COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
Friday Night Live – WINNER
The Graham Norton Show
Taskmaster
Would I Lie To You
ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
Later… With Jools Holland: Jool’s 30th Birthday Bash
The Masked Singer – WINNER
Strictly Come Dancing
ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Big Zuu – Big Zuu’s Big Eats
Claudia Winkleman – The Traitors – WINNER
Lee Mack – The 1% Club
Mo Gilligan – The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan
Rosie Jones – Rosie Jones’ Trip Hazard
Sue Perkins – Sue Perkins: Perfectly Legal
FACTUAL SERIES
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime
Libby, Are You Home Yet? – WINNER
Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi
Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing
FEATURES
Big Zuu’s Big Eats
Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas – WINNER
The Martin Lewis Money Show Livee
The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan
LIVE EVENT
Concert for Ukraine
Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace – WINNER
The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II
SCRIPTED COMEDY
Am I Being Unreasonable?
Big Boys
Derry Girls – WINNER
Ghosts
REALITY & CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL
Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK
The Traitors – WINNER
We are Black and British
SHORT FORM PROGRAMME
Always, Asifa
Biscuitland
How To Be A Person – WINNER
Kingpin Crisis
SINGLE DOCUMENTARY
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes
Escape From Kabul Airport
Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story
The Real Mo Farah – WINNER
SOAP & CONTINUING DRAMA
Casualty – WINNER
EastEnders
Emmerdale
SPECIALIST FACTUAL
AIDS: The Unheard TaPes
The Green Planet
How To Survive A Dictator with Munya Chawawa
Russia 1985-1999: Traumazone – WINNER
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Afghanistan: No Country For Women
Children of the Taliban – WINNER
The Crossing (Exposure)
Mariupol: The People’s Story (Panorama)
NEWS COVERAGE
BBC News at Ten: Russia Invades Ukraine
Channel 4 News: Live in Kyiv – WINNER
Good Morning Britain: Boris Johnson Interview
BAFTA FELLOWSHIP
Meera Syal
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