TV Baftas hosts Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan kicked off Sunday night’s ceremony with a pop at the ongoing discussions surrounding impartiality at the BBC.
In their opening monologue, Rob kicked things off by saying: “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.”
Romesh then interjected: “Whereas I see a roomful of shark-eyed narcissists.”
“Balance,” they both joked.
As the introductory speech continued, the duo took a swipe at This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby over the so-called “queuegate” scandal.
Pointing out that Imelda Staunton was in the audience, nominated for her leading turn in The Crown, Romesh joked: “Apparently, Holly and Phil got to watch that a couple of days before everybody else. A little bit of edge for you, early doors.”
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, the daytime duo were heavily criticised on social media after it was reported they’d seen the late monarch lying in state without taking part in the public queue.
Holly and Phil later insisted they would “never jump a queue” and their visit was for the purposes of reporting on the event.
Check out all the red carpet snaps you need to see from this year’s TV Baftas in the gallery below…