Rebel Wilson pokes fun at Harry and Meghan ahead of BAFTAs hosting gig

Just a few days before she takes to the stage as host of the UK’s most prestigious award show, the BAFTAs, Rebel Wilson has poked fun at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The Australian comedian took a swipe at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move to the US while chatting with This Morning host Alison Hammond on Thursday about some of this year’s nominees.

After a clip played from the film West Side Story, where they sing the song America featuring the lyrics “I like to be in America, okay by me in America”, Rebel joked that it bore similarities to the royal couple’s experience.

“That’s Harry and Meghan's new theme song!” she remarked, leaving Alison in stitches.

Elsewhere in the interview, Rebel candidly admitted that she didn’t really know why she had been selected as host.

“Well I have presented awards before at the BAFTAs and it's gone pretty well,” she said. “It's hard when you're the host because you're in charge of the whole show and you have the whole responsibility. So I don't know whether they were wise asking me.”

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The Pitch Perfect star famously made her mark at the 2020 award ceremony when she joked about her outfit, her highly-criticised film Cats, and her sex life.

“You’re all getting a gifting wallet, which is funny because that’s also the nickname of my vagina,” she said while presenting the award for Best Director, which was met with enormous laughter from the audience.

She also caused a stir during her speech when she pretended to forget the name of the Royal Albert Hall, jokingly referring to it as the “Royal Andrew”, “Royal Harry” and “Royal Philip” in reference to controversial members of the British royal family.

It was recently reported that Prince William, who managed to keep a straight face during Rebel’s 2020 speech, won’t be attending this year’s event due to scheduling conflicts.

A source told The Mirror: "Prince William is always a huge draw, not least as it's the first year back in person after the pandemic. But BAFTA were told that diary constraints precluded him from attending in person this year. It's such a shame and everyone is very disappointed.”

While William has been the president of BAFTA since 2010 and usually attends the ceremony with Kate Middleton, the pair was also absent last year due to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip.

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