Before and Bafta! Host Rebel’s 5 stone weight loss since last awards in 2020
...while Talulah and her toyboy kick off the party early
WHEN Rebel Wilson presented an award at the Baftas two years ago, her performance impressed bosses so much that they invited her back to host the entire ceremony.
But when the Australian comedian turned actress returns for tonight’s glitzy show, she will do so minus a staggering five-and-a-half stone.
Photographed last Wednesday wearing a gown from Kim Kardashian’s favourite label, Thierry Mugler, she looked half the woman she was when she presented the award for best director to Sam Mendes in 2020.
After arriving in London from the US last week, the star was taken for a walk around London’s Royal Albert Hall where at tonight’s ceremony she promises to tell the ‘filthiest, cheekiest jokes’ in a bid to ‘push the limits’.
Ms Wilson, star of the 2011 movie Bridesmaids and the comedy trilogy Pitch Perfect, says that she lost the weight by walking. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she has also recruited an impressive glam squad to get her ready for the show. Her team includes Beyonce’s stylist, Jennifer Rodriguez, as well as Elizabeth Stewart, a Hollywood fashion expert who is used to dressing the likes of Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett.
Ms Wilson has also hired British make-up artist Karin Darnell, who has worked with the Spice Girls, while her tresses will be tended to by hairdresser Mikey Kardashian whose clients have included Adele.
Speaking of her weight loss, which started shortly after the awards in February 2020, Ms Wilson, 41, said: ‘I lost weight but very, very gradually. Sometimes I kicked up things a notch with some workouts and went hard, but the majority of the work for the year was just doing things like walking for an hour.’
At the 2020 ceremony she made a joke at the expense of Princes Andrew and Harry, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the audience. She said: ‘It is really great to be here, at the Royal Andrew... Royal Harry... no, sorry, Royal Philah at this royal... palace place.’
Ms Wilson is the only non-British host of the Bafta film awards other than Icelandic-born Magnus Magnusson, who did the honours in 1990.
Star promises the ‘filthiest, cheekiest’ jokes tonight
THEY met on the set of the forthcoming drama about the Sex Pistols – but there was nothing very punk about the dance moves Talulah Riley and her boyfriend Thomas Brodie-Sangster tried out at a pre-Bafta party on Friday.
The pair cut a rug at a gala dinner at the West End’s swanky Londoner hotel, and it may have been the free-flowing champagne that gave Queen’s Gambit actor Brodie-Sangster enough Dutch courage to show his footwork.
Ms, Riley, the 36-year-old former wife of Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, was dressed in a £1,500 plunging green metallic gown by London-based designer Glavan, while her 31-year-old toyboy wore black tie and a very distictive jacket.
It is the first time they have been seen together at a public event since they began dating while filming Pistol, in which they play svengali Malcolm McLaren and designer Vivienne Westwood.
They are yet to comment on their romance but were seen at a fish and chip shop on Cleethorpes Pier earlier this year.
They were joined by a host of stars, including Call The Midwife actress Helen George, wearing a baby blue frock with feathered sleeves and Victoria star Jenna Coleman, 35, who chose a demure orange satin creation.
Former Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman was also there and even managed to do a turn on the drums.
Strictly host Tess Daly, her husband Vernon Kay and television presenter Piers Morgan were also in attendance.