Eurovision Fans Think Hannah Waddingham Threw Some Shade At Amanda Holden During Semi-Final

The Ted Lasso star co-hosted the first semi-final with Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina.
Hannah Waddingham and Amanda Holden
Hannah Waddingham and Amanda Holden
BBC

Hannah Waddingham got two big thumbs up when she made her Eurovision hosting debut during Tuesday nightโ€™s semi-final โ€“ but some fans think she might have been throwing a bit of shade with one comment she made during the broadcast.

Early on in the event, the Ted Lasso star โ€“ who co-hosted the proceedings with Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina โ€“ read out the nightโ€™s terms and conditions in French.

โ€œYou see Europe? Some of us Brits do bother to learn another language,โ€ she then told viewers, to cheers and applause from the audience, before adding a quick: โ€œJust saying.โ€

๐ŸŽฅ | hannah waddingham presenting in french at the #Eurovision First Semi Final pic.twitter.com/atnbiNZEZ3

โ€” best of hannah waddingham (@ofwaddingham) May 9, 2023

While Hannah may have just been referencing Britsโ€™ reputation for not bothering to learn any of the local lingo when we travel abroad, others interpreted the remark as a pointed dig at Amanda Holden.

Amanda famously served as the UKโ€™s spokesperson back in 2021, but received a somewhat lukewarm response from viewers when she declared: โ€œGood evening! Bon soir! Goedenavond!

โ€œThatโ€™s โ€˜good eveningโ€™ in French and Dutch, although Iโ€™ve got absolutely no idea which is which.โ€

I'm still screaming at Amanda Holden ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/ksvEpb5a5L

โ€” sแดœแด˜แด‡ส€ แด›แด  (@superTV247) May 22, 2021

After Hannahโ€™s remark on Tuesday, Eurovision fans were immediately reminded of Amandaโ€™s infamous appearanceโ€ฆ

NOT THE DIG AT AMANDA HOLDEN Iโ€™M CRYING HANNAH ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ #Eurovision

โ€” sแดœแด˜แด‡ส€ แด›แด  (@superTV247) May 9, 2023

Hannah throwing SHADE at amanda holden is iconic ๐Ÿ˜‚

โ€” james barr (@imjamesbarr) May 9, 2023

That's Hannah off Amanda Holden's christmas card list... #Eurovision

โ€” Charlotte Webb (@charlalottie) May 9, 2023

I feel like this was squarely directed at Amanda Holden https://t.co/2BJ6Zb0K56

โ€” CAL ROSCOW (@calroscow) May 10, 2023

Hannah throwing shade at Amanda Holden there #Eurovision

LOVE IT pic.twitter.com/PKvcKaTxL7

โ€” Joshie ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿณ๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ (@JoshieParker93) May 9, 2023

Hannahโ€™s slight at Amanda Holden - iconic! #Eurovision

โ€” Naomi Sanders, Professional Fangirl (@naomisnews) May 9, 2023

Hannah Waddingham throwing Amanda Holden under Le bus, quality shade #Eurovision

โ€” Luke ๐Ÿณ๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ (@lukebbz) May 9, 2023

YESSSS SHADE ON AMANDA HOLDEN some of us do learn another language

โ€” tom (@tmlwrnc) May 9, 2023

Deep cut aimed at bloody Amanda Holden there. Yass Queen Hannah! #Eurovision2023

โ€” EurovisionQueens (@EuroQueensPod) May 9, 2023

Hannah Waddingham throwing shade at Amanda Holden already?! I love her so much!!!! #Eurovision

โ€” FKA DanEv ๐Ÿณ๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ (@DanEv) May 9, 2023

The hosts are amazing, all 3 of them bring their own unique character and the script flows really naturally

Hannah waddingham flexes how she can speak french and makes a comment that I think is supposed to be interpreted as shade towards amanda holden

โ€” louis ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ (@clarinetmoonesc) May 8, 2023

A total of 15 acts performed during the first semi-final, with 10 making it through to the next stage of the competition.

On Thursday night, 16 more will compete for the remaining 10 spots in the final, which will then air live on Saturday night on BBC One.

The BBC has also confirmed that a British comedy fave will be serving as the UK spokesperson in 2023, while Hannah, Alesha and Julia will be joined by regular commentator Graham Norton on hosting duties.

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