Rebel Wilson, Ariana DeBose and Hugh Grant have been responsible for some headline-grabbing Baftas momentsAfter the excitement of the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, it’s time for the world’s biggest names in cinema to head across the pond for the 2026 Baftas.Now, admittedly, compared to some of the other major events in the awards season calendar, the Bafta Awards ceremony does have a reputation for being… well… let’s just say slightly on the less eventful side.However, that’s not to say that the awards show hasn’t been the site of several headline-grabbing moments over the years.Ahead of this year’s Baftas ceremony, we’ve rounded up 11 of the most memorable moments to ever take place on the biggest night in British cinema…Ariana DeBose’s jaw-dropping opening number (2023)Oscar winner Ariana DeBose kicked off the Baftas ceremony in 2023 with a very special musical number celebrating the year’s female nominees.Kicking off with a rendition of Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves, the West Side Story star then went into an original rap, featuring unforgettable lines like “Hong Chau, Dolly D, Kerry and Carey with a ‘C’”, “Dame Emma I’m so fond, Ana, girl, you were great in Blonde” and, of course, “Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my Woman King”.Ariana’s energetic routine sparked an endless string of memes, and she later insisted: “We did that and it was fun, not going to lie, I had a blast. So awesome!”She added: “Apparently ‘gay Twitter’ seemed to like it. So that’s good… I’ll take it!”Hugh Grant and Renée Zellweger stage an impromptu Bridget Jones reunion (2020)Hugh Grant and Renée Zellweger pictured together after the 2020 BaftasIn early 2020, Renée Zellweger scooped her second Bafta for her work in the biopic Judy.Coincidentally, moments later, her Bridget Jones co-star Hugh Grant came out to announce the winner of Best Picture, and couldn’t resist slipping back into character for a moment.“First of all, well done Jones,” he quipped, before adding: “That was a very, very silly little dress, I thought.”Renée later told reporters it was “really cool” to share her moment with Hugh, with the pair reuniting five years later in the fourth Bridget Jones film, Mad About The Boy.Go on then, let’s have another hilarious introduction from Hugh Grant (2024)Many were left puzzled (and, indeed, many are still puzzled) after it was announced that Hugh Grant would be playing an Oompa Loompa opposite Timothée Chalamet in the musical prequel Wonka.But, at the very least, it gave us this laugh-out-loud ridiculous moment when the British star was brought out to announce the winner of Best Director in 2024.Meryl Streep has an impromptu Cinderella moment while accepting her award (2012)Over her long and successful career, Meryl Streep has racked up a hefty 15 Bafta nominations, winning on two occasions.Her second victory was in 2012 for The Iron Lady, and suffered quite the wardrobe malfunction as she made her way up to the podium to collect her award.Fortunately, her Mamma Mia! co-star Colin Firth was on hand to help her out after leaving her shoe on the steps in a real-life Cinderella moment.Stephen Fry offends some viewers with comments about Best Costume Design winner Jenny Beavan (2016)Stephen Fry and Jenny Beavan in 2016In 2016, Baftas host Stephen Fry faced a huge backlash when he commented after Jenny Beavan’s Best Costume Design win: “Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards ceremony dressed like a bag lady.”Exasperated at the controversy brought about by his remarks, he later wrote on Twitter (as it was then still known): “Will all you sanctimonious fuckers fuck the fuck off? Jenny Beavan is a friend and joshing is legitimate. Christ, I want to leave the planet.”In the wake of the drama, the future Celebrity Traitors star made one of several exits from the social media platform.Meanwhile, Jenny Beavan told her fashion detractors: “I just like feeling comfortable and as far as I’m concerned I’m really dressed up.”Rebel Wilson has everyone howling with her very irreverent speech (2020)Rebel Wilson was all anyone could talk about after the Baftas ceremony in 2020, where she stole the show with an impromptu three-minute comedy routine.The Australian star had been recruited to present the award for Best Director, but managed to sneak in jibes at everything from the controversy surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (months after his car-crash Newsnight interview) to the disastrous Cats film adaptation and her category’s all-male shortlist.Famously, she also remarked that the Bafta statuette was a “great way to stop yourself from getting coronavirus” – which we should stress was extremely topical back in February 2020.Emma Watson makes it clear she’s here for ‘all of the witches’ (2022)Rebel’s 2020 speech went down so well that she was invited to host the Baftas two years later.During the 2022 ceremony, the Pitch Perfect star introduced Outstanding British Film presenter Emma Watson by remarking: “She’s proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.”The Harry Potter alum then began her speech by stating that she’s here “for all of the witches”, in what many inferred to be a show of solidarity with trans women, a community for whom Emma had voiced support on numerous occasions.Of course, this is a subject she and Harry Potter author JK Rowling seemingly have opposing views on, with the writer subsequently lambasting the Hermione Granger actor on several occasions over the years.It was speculated at the time that Emma had mouthed “but one” after saying she’s here for “all of the witches”, further fuelling Rowling’s ire, but it’s more probable that she was actually saying “by the way”.Daniel Kaluuya highlights the importance of arts funding while accepting the Rising Star prize (2018)The Rising Star title is always one of the tightest categories at the Baftas, but the 2018 race was an especially fierce one, with Daniel Kaluuya triumphing over the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Josh O’Connor, Tessa Thompson and Florence Pugh, all of whom have gone on to huge things.After accepting his award on the night, Daniel pointed out to those in the room and watching at home: “I am a product of arts funding within the United Kingdom, and I’d like to thank the people that financially support that, obviously in the mainstream arts, but also grassroots levels.”AThe Baftas has its very own La La Land/Moonlight moment (albeit much more low-key) (2023)Troy Kotsur on stage with Kerry Condon during the 2023 BaftasIn 2023, Carey Mulligan was announced as the recipient of the Best Supporting Actress prize at the Baftas.The only issue with that was the fact that she hadn’t actually won.Bafta later confirmed that the mistake had taken place due to an error on the part of actor Troy Kotsur’s sign language interpreter, who misread his signing, and announced Carey’s name over the night’s actual winner Kerry Condon.Fortunately for Bafta, the ceremony doesn’t air live, meaning the moment didn’t make it into the finished broadcast, and people only found out about it the following day.Stage invasion during Oppenheimer’s win (2024)A Baftas blunder that didn’t make it into the broadcast, though, took place the following year when Oppenheimer won Best Picture, the top award of the night.When producer Emma Thomas urged her Oppenheimer colleagues to join her at the podium, they were joined by a “social media prankster” in the audience, who took the opportunity to join them on stage.Bafta later said they were taking the matter “very seriously”, and in the interest of not “granting him any publicity”, they would not be naming the man in question or “commenting any further”.While the aforementioned “prankster” didn’t actually say anything during his impromptu stage invasion, you can still see him in the above clip, standing behind Emma Thomas in a black baseball cap.Olivia Colman’s acceptance speech sums up pretty much everything we’ve come to love about her (2019)Seriously, what a delight.The 2026 Baftas will air on Sunday 22 February at 7pm on BBC One.READ MORE:The Full List Of This Year’s Bafta-Nominated Films And Stars Has Been UnveiledBafta Announces New Host For Next Year’s Awards Show, Replacing David TennantBafta Nominee Miles Caton: ‘Sinners Has Changed My Life In Every Way’ HuffPost UK – Athena2 – All Entries (Public) Read More