Paul Mescal gave one of the sweetest speeches of the night at Sunday evening’s TV Baftas after he collected the Leading Actor gong.
The 25-year-old actor, who played Connell Waldron in Normal People, dedicated his award to co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, who plays his love interest Marianne in the BBC drama series.
“I want to thank everyone at Hulu and the BBC,” Paul said, admitting he was ‘very nervous’. “I want to thank the cast. I want to dedicate this to Daisy, who is the best scene partner and one of the best people I know.”
After the actor, who was obviously taken aback at his win, left the stage, Baftas host Richard Ayoade couldn’t resist taking a cheeky swipe.
“What an absolute bastard,” he deadpanned. And all before the 9pm watershed too.
Twitter was loving the host being, well, Richard Ayoade.
Following Paul’s win, Daisy shared an emotional video to her Instagram thanking Bafta for her nomination as Best Leading Actress and “her lovely friend Paul for his deserved win”, alongside a video of her at home watching Paul accept his award and crying.
Elsewhere, Michaela Coel was the biggest winner of the night, taking home the leading actress prize and the best mini-series for I May Destroy You.
The awards were handed out at Television Centre in west London in front of a live but socially-distanced audience of nominees.