BAFTAs viewers blast Alan Cumming’s ‘dreadful and cringe-worthy’ opening monologue and British snacks gag as they declare ‘who the hell is accountable for this?’

BAFTAs viewers were unimpressed by Alan Cumming’s stint as host during Sunday’s ceremony, as they blasted his ‘tedious and cringe-worthy’ opening monologue.

The presenter, 61, took to the stage at London‘s Royal Festival Hall as the MC of proceedings, but struggling to win over fans with his opener.

During his first monologue, Alan said he believed many of the movies nominated had been inspired by difficult current events – hinting at the political unrest in the United States – before asking the audience to join him in a collective ‘primal scream.’

Later in the show, Alan then began handing out iconic British snacks to some of the Hollywood stars in attendance, with some, including Kylie Jenner, failing to see the funny side of the gag.

One Battle After Another was the big winner at this year’s BAFTAs with a total of six gongs, while Jessie Buckley was awarded Best Actress, and Timothee Chalamet missed out on the coveted Best Actor award.

In his monologue, Alan joked watching Marty Supreme, which stares Timothée Chalamet, had felt like a ‘core workout’ before bemoaning Hanet’s tragic story of a child’s death. 

BAFTAs viewers were unimpressed by Alan Cumming’s stint as host during Sunday’s ceremony, as they blasted his ‘tedious and cringe-worthy’ opening monologue

The presenter, 61, took to the stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall as the MC of proceedings, but struggling to win over fans with his opener

‘Do you know the plot of Zootropolis 2? Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning, and persecution of a race. Too soon, Disney, come on,’ 

‘It’s almost as though, I don’t know, there are events going on in the real world that are influencing filmmakers. Anyone know what I’m talking about? No. Ring any bells for you Americans, particularly?’.

He then suggested everyone joining him in ‘one big collective primal scream’ before letting out a huge yell, and asking: ‘That felt better, didn’t it?’ 

Later in the show, Alan left Kylie Jenner bemused as he handed out ‘very British snacks’ to stars in the audience.

The billionaire make-up mogul was handed a giant Jammy Dodger from the Scottish actor who is presenting the ceremony for the first time. 

Kylie was left looking confused by the iconic British biscuit, which features two shortcake layers sandwiched with a raspberry or strawberry-flavoured jam filling and a heart-shaped hole in the middle. 

Sitting next to Kylie was her boyfriend and BAFTA nominee Timothée Chalamet, 30, who was given a packet of the British pub snack, Scampi Fries.  

Meanwhile host Alan handed Emma Stone a packet of Hula Hoops crisps, he asked: ‘Do you know what a Hula Hoop is?’

Later in the show, Alan then began handing out iconic British snacks to some of the Hollywood stars in attendance, with some, including Kylie Jenner, failing to see the funny side of the gag

In his monologue, Alan said he believed many of the movies nominated had been inspired by difficult current events – before asking the audience to join him in a collective ‘primal scream’

Alan’s stint as host didn’t go down well with viewers, and they were quick to share their thoughts on X

She replied: ‘No but that sounds delightful’. 

Moving on, Alan said: ‘Leo how do you like the sound of an Oaty Hobnob Flapjack’, as he passed the Leonardo DiCaprio a packet of biscuits from his woven picnic basket.  

Rapper Stormzy was given his ‘favourite snack’, a bag of Skips, while Hollywood actor Rose Byrne and Bad Neighbours actress wife Bobby Cannavale were handed Twiglets during the segment. 

Alan added: ‘I think you guys are Twiglets kind of people, Rose said I’m starving, I’ve covered her needs’, he joked. 

Alan’s stint as host didn’t go down well with viewers, and they were quick to share their thoughts on X.

They said: ‘#baftas Alan Cumming, Chris that’s cringe; Alan Cummings opening of the BAFTAs is so tedious to get through;

‘Is it me or Alan C is doing a bad job as the presenter? His opening monologue is just cringe and not funny;

‘WTAF is going on at the #BAFTAs? #AlanCummings is AWFUL and nobody is laughing. I feel more alcohol should be flowing…

‘That opening was dreadful, the jokes weren’t landing at all. The silence was deafening.’

One Battle After Another was the big winner at the 2026 British Academy Film Awards on Sunday night, as it scooped six gongs during the ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

The Paul Thomas Anderson hit had already received a record 14 nominations, and came out on top as it won Best Film, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Cinematography and Editing.

While Jessie Buckley won Best Actress honour for her role in Hamnet, having been favourite to do so, the night wasn’t without surprises, as Timothee Chalamet missed out on Best Actor to a home-grown favourite.

Despite being tipped as a favourite for the honour for his role in Marty Supreme, Timothee lost out on the prize to I Swear star Robert Aramayo.

As One Battle For Another was awarded Best Film, producer Sarah Murphy said: ‘We wish more than anything that our producing partner Adam Somner could be here to accept this on behalf of us on his home turf.’

Director and producer Paul Thomas Anderson said: ‘Thank you for rewarding our film in the way that you have, its just a tremendous honour. 

‘I’m well aware of the other films that share this. Anybody that says movies aren’t any good any more they can piss off because this is just a great f*****g year.’

He added that he planned to go and find a ‘bar somewhere to go celebrate.’

The biggest loser of the evening was the highly acclaimed ping pong drama Marty Supreme, which went into the evening as one of the favourites, with 11 nominations. It came away completely empty-handed.

Jessie, who is already tipped as a favourite to win the Oscar for Best Actress, used her acceptance speech to thank her fellow nominees.

She said: ‘This is really such an incredible honour. As a little girl I never thought in a million years I would be allowed to make a film but here I am. 

‘When I arrived into my agent Lindy King in London, and I had nuclear bad fake tan on, white hoop earrings, a polka dot red skirt and dress, and I had the audacity to say to her that I dreamed to someday be something like Judi Dench. 

‘I don’t know how on gods green earth she even dreamed that was possible. This really does belong to the women who have taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently.’

Thanking her fellow nominees, Jessie forgot to include Kate Hudson and asked the audience: ‘Who have I left out?’ She then added ‘I am in awe of all your incredible performances thank you.’ 

Meanwhile viewers, and guests in attendance, were stunned when it was announced that Robert had been awarded Best Actor for I Swear, beating out Hollywood heavyweights Timothee and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Upon learning of his son’s honour, Robert’s father jumped to his feet and was shouting and jumping up and down when his son’s name was read.

From the stage, Aramayo said: ‘I absolutely can’t believe this. I can’t believe I’m looking at people like you never mind that I’m stood here. 

With 28 gongs awarded on Sunday night, the main winners were One Battle After Another with six prizes. Sinners, Frankenstein and I Swear followed with three each whilst Hamnet won two gongs.  

EE BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2026: THE WINNERS

BEST FILM  

HAMNET 

MARTY SUPREME

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – WINNER

SENTIMENTAL VALUE 

SINNERS 

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

28 YEARS LATER 

THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND 

BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY 

DIE MY LOVE 

H IS FOR HAWK 

HAMNET – WINNER 

I SWEAR 

MR BURTON 

PILLION 

STEVE

One Battle After Another earned the most nods with 14, including one for lead star Leonardo DiCaprio

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

THE CEREMONY Jack King (Director, Writer), Hollie Bryan (Producer), Lucy Meer (Producer)

MY FATHER’S SHADOW Akinola Davies Jr. (Director), Wale Davies (Writer) – WINNER

PILLION Harry Lighton (Director, Writer)

A WANT IN HER Myrid Carten (Director)

WASTEMAN Cal McMau (Director), Hunter Andrews (Writer), Eoin Doran (Writer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT 

THE SECRET AGENT 

SENTIMENTAL VALUE – WINNER

SIRĀT 

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB 

Marty Supreme has scored eleven BAFTA nominations including Best Film

DOCUMENTARY

2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA 

APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS 

COVER-UP 

MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN – WINNER

THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR 

ANIMATED FILM

ELIO 

LITTLE AMÉLIE 

ZOOTROPOLIS 2 – WINNER

CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM

ARCO 

BOONG – WINNER

LILO & STITCH 

ZOOTROPOLIS 2 

DIRECTOR

BUGONIA 

HAMNET 

MARTY SUPREME 

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Paul Thomas Anderson – WINNER 

SENTIMENTAL VALUE 

SINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

I SWEAR 

MARTY SUPREME 

THE SECRET AGENT 

SENTIMENTAL VALUE 

SINNERS – WINNER

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND 

BUGONIA 

HAMNET

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – WINNER

PILLION

LEADING ACTRESS 

JESSIE BUCKLEY Hamnet – WINNER

ROSE BYRNE If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

KATE HUDSON Song Sung Blue

CHASE INFINITI One Battle After Another

RENATE REINSVE Sentimental Value

EMMA STONE Bugonia

Teyana Taylor has a Supporting Actress nomination for One Battle After Another

LEADING ACTOR

ROBERT ARAMAYO I Swear – WINNER

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Marty Supreme

LEONARDO DICAPRIO One Battle After Another

ETHAN HAWKE Blue Moon

MICHAEL B. JORDAN Sinners

JESSE PLEMONS Bugonia

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ODESSA A’ZION Marty Supreme

INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS Sentimental Value

WUNMI MOSAKU Sinners – WINNER

CAREY MULLIGAN The Ballad of Wallis Island

TEYANA TAYLOR One Battle After Another

EMILY WATSON Hamnet

SUPPORTING ACTOR 

BENICIO DEL TORO One Battle After Another

JACOB ELORDI Frankenstein

PAUL MESCAL Hamnet

PETER MULLAN I Swear

SEAN PENN One Battle After Another – WINNER

STELLAN SKARSGÅRD Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has earned 11 nods overall 

CASTING

I SWEAR Lauren Evans – WINNER

MARTY SUPREME Jennifer Venditti

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Cassandra Kulukundis

SENTIMENTAL VALUE Yngvill Kolset Haga, Avy Kaufman

SINNERS Francine Maisler

CINEMATOGRAPHY

FRANKENSTEIN Dan Laustsen

MARTY SUPREME Darius Khondji

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Michael Bauman – WINNER

SINNERS Autumn Durald Arkapaw

TRAIN DREAMS Adolpho Veloso

EDITING 

F1 Stephen Mirrione

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Kirk Baxter

MARTY SUPREME Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Andy Jurgensen – WINNER

SINNERS Michael P. Shawver

COSTUME DESIGN 

FRANKENSTEIN Kate Hawley – WINNER

HAMNET Malgosia Turzanska

MARTY SUPREME Miyako Bellizzi

SINNERS Ruth E. Carter

WICKED: FOR GOOD Paul Tazewell

MAKE UP & HAIR 

FRANKENSTEIN Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey, Mike Hill, Megan Many – WINNER

HAMNET Nicole Stafford

MARTY SUPREME Kyra Panchenko, Kay Georgiou, Mike Fontaine

SINNERS Siân Richards, Shunika Terry, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine

WICKED: FOR GOOD Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Mark Coulier, Sarah Nuth

ORIGINAL SCORE

BUGONIA Jerskin Fendrix

FRANKENSTEIN Alexandre Desplat

HAMNET Max Richter

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jonny Greenwood

SINNERS Ludwig Göransson – WINNERS

Hamnet has broken the record for the most nominations for a female-directed film in BAFTA history

PRODUCTION DESIGN 

FRANKENSTEIN Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau – WINNER

HAMNET Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton

MARTY SUPREME Jack Fisk, Adam Willis

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino

SINNERS Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne

SOUND

F1 Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta – WINNER

FRANKENSTEIN Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitallie, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoem

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor

SINNERS Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco

WARFARE Mitch Low, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner

Sentimental Value has eight BAFTA nominations

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Eric Saindon – WINNER

F1 Ryan Tudhope, Keith Alfred Dawson, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington

FRANKENSTEIN Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Christian Mänz, Francois Lambert, Glen McIntosh, Terry Palmer

THE LOST BUS Charlie Noble, Brandon K. McLaughlin, David Zaretti

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION 

CARDBOARD 

SOLSTICE 

TWO BLACK BOYS IN PARADISE  – WINNER

BRITISH SHORT FILM 

MAGID / ZAFAR 

NOSTALGIE 

TERENCE 

THIS IS ENDOMETRIOSIS – WINNER

WELCOME HOME FRECKLES 

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

ROBERT ARAMAYO – WINNER

MILES CATON

CHASE INFINITI

ARCHIE MADEKWE

POSY STERLING