Bafta 2026: Host Greg Davies’ best jokes featuring stars including Alan Carr, Romesh Ranganathan and Dion Dublin
As usual, Bafta host Greg Davies had his audience in stitches - here are his best jokes from the awards ceremony, featuring stars including Alan Carr, Romesh Ranganathan and Dion Dublin.
Host of the 2026 Baftas - Greg Davies - missed out on claiming any awards himself, but took sharp aim at those who did with some trademark witty jokes and brutal gags. Making his debut at the Bafta Television Awards, the Inbetweeners and Taskmaster star delivered a range of pithy punchlines, much to the amusement of many in the audience at the event, and to the embarrassment of others.
The closest Davies has got to winning one of the coveted statues was a nomination for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2013, for his performance in Cuckoo. He ended up losing out to Steve Coogan who won it for his role in Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life.
Before that he was also nominated for Best Breakthrough Comedy Artist at the 2011 British Comedy Awards, losing out to Dan Skinner who picked up the gong for his popular role as Angelos Epithemiou on the panel show Shooting Stars.
But Greg’s not bitter and showed it by doing what he does best, making us laugh. Here are his best moments from last night’s award ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Greg Davies’ best Bafta jokes
On being overlooked for a Bafta nomination in a category where fellow comedian Romesh Ranganathan is in the running for two separate shows, he said: “Will I be punching the air if he loses? We will see – but this is not about the personal grievances that gnaw away at my soul.”
On reality TV, he said: “I remember when reality television was just a matter of locking a few unstable people in a house full of alcohol and then we film them, but it’s got complicated, hasn’t it? Celebrity Traitors managed to turn Alan Carr into a manipulative serial killer.”
On soaps, Greg said: “You think Daniel Day-Lewis could cut it in EastEnders? No Daniel, you don’t have time to sit with the character. You have to get your sister-in-law pregnant, do a shift in the cafe and have a fight with Phil Mitchell before lunch.”
On Celebrity Traitors star Celia Imrie, who farted audibly during the series, the actor said: “Celia, you can relax. I say relax, not too much obviously.”
On the appearance of Mark Labbett on Celebs Go Dating, he quipped: “The man tried to drink a candle. Do you understand? Why aren’t we celebrating that?” Flashing the image up on screen, he added: “I’m the host of this show and it will have its moment in the sun.”
On audience interaction, he said: “This is the part when the host goes and has some top banter with members of the audience, that always goes so well.”
On US series Severance, he said: “A show that cost $200 million, the shoe budget would have funded Homes Under The Hammer for 150 years, even after Dion Dublin inexplicably joined.”