Gareth Bale's glamorous night with Brad Pitt as he takes everyone by surprise

Wales Online

24-06-2025

Gareth Bale's glamorous night with Brad Pitt as he takes everyone by surprise
The Wales football legend threatened to upstage the Hollywood royalty around him with news of his own
Bale grabbed a photo with Pitt at the premiere
Wales football legend Gareth Bale rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in Hollywood on Monday night but ended up stealing the headlines himself as he made a huge announcement.
The 35-year-old dressed up smart to appear on the red carpet in London's Leicester Square for the European premiere of F1 The Movie, with Brad Pitt - who plays the lead role of ex-Formula One driver Sonny Hayes in the new film - among the top acting talents in attendance.
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Tom Cruise also made a surprise attendance at the premiere, while F1 great Lewis Hamilton - who stars in and helped produced the film - was there alongside the rest of the cast, which includes Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies and Javier Bardem.
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Donning a suit, Bale appeared on the red carpet alongside his wife Emma Rhys-Jones and posed with Pitt by a Formula One car outside the Cineworld theatre at the London landmark.
However, the former Wales captain threatened to upstage the Hollywood royalty in attendance as he confirmed rumours that he plans to buy Cardiff City.
Bale attended the premiere alongside his wife Emma Rhys-Jones
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WalesOnline learned last week that a consortium including Bale had made an offer directly to current Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan last week, only for that offer to be rejected.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Bale confirmed his interest in buying his hometown club and taking them back to the Premier League, following their recent relegation to League One - but played a straight bat to questions over whether a second offer is to soon follow.
"We are interested in getting Cardiff," the former Real Madrid and Tottenham star said. "It's my home club, it's where I grew up and my uncle [Chris Pike] used to play for them. To be involved with an ownership group would be a dream come true.
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"It's a club close to my heart. It's where I grew up and I would love to be able to be a part of growing Cardiff and taking it to the Premier League where it belongs.
"I know how amazing the Welsh fans and Cardiff fans are. It would be amazing to try and do something together."
Pitt was joined by Tom Cruise, who made a surprise appearance at the premiere
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Bale later made similar comments in an interview with talkSPORT as he denied reports that he was keen to buy Plymouth Argyle, which emerged before his interest in taking over Cardiff was made public, adding: "I have no idea where [that] came from".
He said: "It's always been Cardiff that we've been trying to get and obviously being from Cardiff, it's obviously where I was born, where I grew up.
"I'm very passionate, obviously I know how passionate the Wales fans and the Cardiff fans are, so it's an interesting time. Exciting time, and hopefully something can be done.
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"It will be exciting to be part of an ownership group and would love to go down that route."
On whether fans could now expect a second offer, Bale added: "I can't say too much. But, like I said, we would love to be part of that Cardiff ownership and take Cardiff back where they belong."