Bafta TV Awards afterparty sees hordes of celebs taking to London streets shoeless

Claudia Winkleman and Ruth Jones led the shoeless celebs leaving the Bafta TV Awards afterparty on Sunday evening, in an apparently raucous evening.

What began as a glamorous and sophisticated affair looked to descend into late-night antics, with TV stars traipsing around barefoot and Bridgerton star Luke Newton locking lips with his girlfriend Antonia Roumelioti in the middle of the street.

The London awards show, which took place at the Royal Festival Hall before the afterparty was held at the same venue, was dominated by Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Disney+ bonkbuster Rivals and Apple TV’s spooktastic Slow Horses.

While Maura Higgins made her return to the red carpet following that Danny Jones scandal and Stacey Solomon rocked up in her wedding dress, Gavin and Stacey star Ruth, 58, and Traitors queen Claudia, 53, left the afterparty barefoot.

James Corden dutifully carried Ruth’s kitten heels as she held a drink in hand while leaving the event wearing her gorgeous shimmering blue gown.

Meanwhile, Claudia carried her own white pointed heels, which she coupled with some black leggings and a simple blazer for her ever-cool, understated style.

Traitors and Claudia fans were fuming after the show was nominated for best reality but lost out to Channel 4’s The Jury: Murder Trial.

After the emotional Christmas finale of Gavin and Stacey, Ruth was awarded the gong for best female performance in a comedy for her role as Nessa.

‘I really wasn’t expecting to win this,’ she said, before adding: ‘The person I would like to thank most is my dear, dear, talented, lovely, kind, funny friend, James Corden, with whom I have shared this astonishing journey with for the past 17 years and without whom Nessa Shenessa Jenkins would simply not exist.

‘I love you, James, I love writing with you, long may it continue.’

Shoe-wise, Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton followed suit, as she ditched her pointed black heels to walk alongside pal Gethin Jones, while Ellie Simmonds did the same, clutching her gold heels.

Cheeky chap Danny Dyer gave the camera a nod as he carried yet more disregarded heels – seemingly belonging to his daughter – while stopping outside the venue for a cigarette.

It’s no surprise the Rivals star needed a breather after his acceptance speech was too expletives-laden to air, and host Alan Cumming was forced to apologise on his behalf.

The big gongs of the evening were taken by stars including an emotional Marisa Abela, who won best actress for her role as Yasmin in banking drama Industry.

Back to Black actress Marisa beat Anna Maxwell Martin for true crime miniseries Until I Kill You, Lola Petticrew for historical Northern Irish drama Say Nothing, and Sharon D. Clarke for Mr Loverman.

Lennie James scooped the leading actor Bafta for his role playing Barrington Walker in Mr Loverman – a BBC show based on Bernardine Evaristo’s novel of the same name.

The actor admitted he had not ‘prepared anything’ for his speech, explaining: ‘(I) didn’t think this was coming my way.’

James told Evaristo: ‘Thank you very much for trusting us with your characters.’

Meanwhile, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office took home the limited drama trophy and managing director of ITV Studios, Kevin Lygo, received the special award for commissioning the series.

Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning won the best supporting actress role for her portrayal of Martha – writer and comedian Richard Gadd’s real-life stalker.

When accepting her award, she looked at her trophy and said: ‘Hello, cheeky chops. Gosh, thank you, Bafta, wow,’ before joking that she used to pretend to be a dog in her garden.

‘I sometimes do this kind of cheesy thing where I look back on the younger me and moments in my life, and I imagine the kind of then me, seeing me now, and think, “Little did we know”,’ she said.

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