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Rivals cast reunite at BAFTA TV Awards as Emily Atack joins Nafessa Williams and David Tennant - but the show walks away with nothing

Rivals cast reunite at BAFTA TV Awards as Emily Atack joins Nafessa Williams and David Tennant - but the show walks away with nothing

Daily Mail​11-05-2025

The Rivals cast reunited at the 2025 BAFTA Television Awards on Sunday evening -but the Disney Plus show walked away with nothing.
Emily Atack was joined on the red carpet at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall by her co-stars Nafessa Williams, David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Bella Maclean.
Racy comedy, Rivals - which is based on Jilly Cooper 1988 novel of the same name - saw David nominated for Leading Actor and Katherine Parkinson for Supporting Actress for their respective roles in the series.
Although both lost out on gongs, the cast were all smiles as they held hands for a group photo on the red carpet.
Emily, 35, wore a white dress, which boasted large shoulder pads and short sleeves, with bold leather long gloves in a nod to the eighties fashion of Rivals.
Nafessa, also 35, looked incredible in a bright red PVC gown, with an off-the-shoulder neckline and front slit.
Joining them was Laura Wade, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Jilly Cooper, Danny Dyer, Felicity Blunt, Alex Lamb, and Alex Hassell.
Emily was all smiles as she posed with Alex Hassell, who looked dapper in a black blazer and brown trousers complete with a brown bow tie.
During the evening, in the category for Leading Actor, Rivals star David - one of the favourites for the award - lost out to Lennie James for his starring role in BBC show Mr Loverman.
It was the second award of the night for Mr Loverman, with James' co-star Ariyon Bakare winning the Supporting Actor gong earlier that night.
On stage at London's Royal Festival Hall, James admitted he had not 'prepared anything', explaining he 'didn't think this was coming my way'.
The BBC series, a surprise hit, is based on Evaristo's novel of the same name about a man who contemplates leaving his wife for his male lover.
Elsewhere, Mr. Bates vs The Post Office claimed two accolades as the annual TV BAFTA Awards.
It was a promising start for ITV, but ultimately the broadcasting giant would be undermined at one of the biggest industry events of the year as the BBC swept the board following a year of triumphant programming.
Auntie's undeniable dominance at this year's ceremony meant a host of favourites missed out on awards - notably ITV golden duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, the much-fancied Amazon Prime drama Rivals and its leading man, David Tennant.
But the BBC suffered a small blow of its own after hugely popular reality show The Traitors missed out on winning its fourth consecutive award at the annual ceremony.
Elsewhere, Netflix smash Baby Reindeer and the climactic Gavin & Stacey Christmas special also winning key awards in front of a full house at London's Royal Festival Hall.
After claiming multiple awards since it aired in 2024 - among them a National Television Award for leading man Toby Jones, a Sky Arts Award and a Venice TV Award - groundbreaking ITV series Mr. Bates vs The Post Office was widely expected to claim much of Sunday evening's spotlight.

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