CLEANERS WHO CLEANED UP AT THE OSCARS

Stars wowed by hilarious gong speech

BRITS have gone mad for Olivia Colman after she stunned Hollywood to go from cleaner to Best Actress Oscar winner.

The down-to-earth British star, 45, pulled off the shock victory for her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite.

She was crowned the new queen of Hollywood in her first nomination, beating seventime nominee Glenn Close, who was the overwhelming favourite to scoop the gong.

The Peep Show star is the first British winner of the Best Actress award since 2009, when Kate Winslet won for The Reader.

And she became one of only 11 British winners of the title in the history of the Oscars.

The Broadchurch star reached out to aspiring actresses everywhere with an emotional speech.

She said: “Any little girl who’s practising your speech on the telly, you never know.

“I used to work as a cleaner and I spent quite a lot of my time imagining this.

“It’s genuinely quite stressful. This is hilarious. I got an Oscar.”

And she further endeared herself to the audience when she blew a raspberry and stuck two fingers in the air when asked to “please wrap up”.

Olivia also paid tribute to The Wife actress Glenn Close, 71, in her speech.

The married mum of three said: “You’ve been my idol for so long and this is not how I wanted it to be.

“And I think you’re amazing and

I love you very much.”

The Night Manager actress said afterwards she would keep the gong

“in bed with me, between me and my husband”.

Former Peep Show stars led the tributes yesterday.

David Mitchell, who played her love interest Mark Corrigan, commented: “Oh my

God! That’s amazing! And what a brilliant speech! #OliviaColman.”

Robert Webb, who played

Jeremy “Jez” Usborne, also wrote: “WHOOP! Congratulations to the brilliant & glorious #OliviaColman.”

He added: “Btw, any actors wondering how it feels to wake up & find an exact contemporary just won an Oscar – they’d just better bloody well be Olivia Colman.

“As long as they’re as lovely, funny, hardworking & absurdly gifted as well as a mate for 26 years – you’ll feel just fine.”

Night Manager co-star Hugh Laurie added: “Olivia Colman, you beauty!!!”

Brits piled money on her despite Glenn Close being tipped as a heavy odds-on favourite by bookies.

The Star Says: Page 6