Heartbreaking reason why Richard E Grant was wearing two watches at the BAFTAs
Richard E Grant is capturing the hearts of viewers at this year's BAFTAs, but people are curious about his unusual fashion choice.
The presenter made quite an entrance to the Royal Festival Hall in a tricked out Bat Mobile (at the recommendation of Steve Martin) before swooping into the building in a long white cape.
But while he was rolling the show along, eagle-eyed viewers spotted that Richard is rocking two watches tonight - one on each wrist.
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"Why does Richard E Grant need two watches?" one viewer wondered.
"Does Richard E Grant have 2 watches on??" asked a second.
Well, there's actually a very good explanation behind Richard's excessive accessories, and it wasn't just a strange fashion choice.
You see, the BAFTAs presenter is a dual citizen of both the UK and Eswatini (formerly called Swaziland), so he wears a watch for each time zone - one of which has a particularly poignant significance.
The first watch is set to Greenwich Meantime (GMT), and the second, which was gifted to him by his late father, is permanently set to Swaziland time.
Richard's father died from lung cancer aged 52 when the actor was just 24, and never got to witness Richard's successful film and TV career.
Opening the show on Sunday night, Richard also made a hilarious dig at Will Smith's infamous Oscars slap.
In his monologue, the Loki star urged viewers to head out to the cinema right away to catch all of this year's fantastic films - though not right away, as he wanted to give his hosting gig a fair shot.
Selling himself as the perfect host, he joked: "Nobody on my watch gets slapped tonight," before slapping himself on either side of the face.
And if it wasn't clear, Richard was, of course, referring to last year's jaw-dropping Oscars moment when Will Smith climbed onto the stage to slap host Chris Rock.
Earlier in the show, Richard appeared in a pre-recorded sketch, where he asked Only Murders In The Building star Steve Martin for advice on hosting.
Steve told him that the most important rule was to 'show up in the Bat Mobile', which Richard somehow pulled off.
Pulling up to the Royal Festival Hall in the armoured car, the actor swooped in in a white cape.
Apologising for his late arrival, he said: "What could be more British than a delayed train?"
The top nominees of the night were All Quiet on the Western Front (14 nominations), The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once (10 nominations).
Topics: BAFTAs
Ali Condon