There's only one joke that Ricky Gervais regrets telling at Golden Globes
Although most people want to hibernate after the hectic festive season, famous faces can't hide away.
The month of January is jam-packed with awards shows and nomination announcements, but it's the Golden Globes which kicks things off tonight (5 January).
Thankfully, us mere mortals can watch all of this unfold from the comfort of our sofas wearing our scruffs, while those poor celebs have to parade up and down a red carpet.
The annual ceremony is a chance to honour all the hard work which TV and film stars from across the world put in, and a few heavy-hitters are hoping to take home a trophy.
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Stand-up star Nikki Glaser will be at the helm of tonight's Golden Globes, as she makes history as the first woman to ever host the award show solo.
The Ohio-born funnywoman has dubbed the gig her 'dream job', pointing out that it 'is not only a huge night for TV and film, but also for comedy'.
"It’s one of my favourite nights of television, and now I get a front-row seat," she said. " It’s one of the few times that show business not only allows, but encourages, itself to be lovingly mocked - at least, I hope so.
"It’s an exciting yet challenging gig because it’s live, unpredictable, and in front of Hollywood’s biggest stars- who also might be getting wasted while seated next to their recent exes.
“Some of my favourite jokes of all time have come from past Golden Globes opening monologues when Tina [Fey], Amy [Poehler], or Ricky [Gervais] have said exactly what we all didn’t know we desperately needed to hear.
"I just hope to continue in that time-honoured tradition...that might also get me cancelled.”
As Glaser mentioned, she's got some pretty big shoes to fill as host of the Golden Globes.
But as long as she doesn't put her foot in it in a similar fashion to how Ricky Gervais did more than a decade ago, she should be alright.
He's hosted the awards show five times - in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020 - and managed to leave celebrities squirming in their seats on each occasion.
The Derek star isn't shy when it comes to roasting some of Hollywood's biggest names, but there is one joke that he later regretted cracking.
In 2011, Gervais was going about his hosting duties and was tasked with introducing Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to the stage.
He began: "What can I say about our next two presenters?
"The first is an actor, producer, and director whose movies have grossed over $3.5bn at the box office.
"He’s won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes for his powerful and varied performances, starring in such films as Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Castaway, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan.
"The other... is Tim Allen."
Allen, 71, is best known for voicing Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story film franchise, but he has plenty of other memorable roles under his belt too.
He's starred in shows including Home Improvement and Last Man Standing while lending himself to films such as Jungle 2 Jungle, Christmas with the Kranks, and The Six Wives of Henry Lefay.
And it turns out he wasn't too pleased with Gervais' introduction, as the actor said that he thought the joke fell 'flat' - and apparently, so did Hanks.
"Perhaps I didn’t get it,” he told Page Six. "I wasn’t the only one. Tom and I even said [at the time]: 'I didn’t really get it. It’s like he didn’t finish the joke. It just went flat.'
"Later that night [Gervais] said, 'It didn’t go so well.' He kind of apologised."
However, he insisted he didn't take the remark to heart and praised the Golden Globes host for being 'pretty sharp', adding: "A couple of things made me laugh out loud."
Jokes do tend to be funnier when they're not at your expense, I suppose.
Gervais later admitted that he regretted making the wisecrack which was aimed at Allen, as he believes the Santa Claus star 'took it wrong'.
Explaining his motivations behind it, he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2020: "The joke was him and Tom Hanks.
"So I came out and said, ‘Our next two presenters, the first has won five Oscars, combined box office of five billion dollars. And the other, Tim Allen'.
"Right? It’s a fine joke. I’m teasing Tim Allen.
"But anyone standing next to Tom Hanks, unless it’s Dustin Hoffman or Robert Redford or Robert De Niro, that could be me. But it happened to be Tim Allen.
"And I have nothing against Tim Allen. He’s a good actor. He’s probably a nice bloke."
Gervais said there was 'no malice' behind the joke.
"I didn’t want Tim Allen to think, 'Oh, that was written for me. Why me?' Well, because you were standing next to Tom Hanks," the comedian added.
Let's hope Glaser doesn't make the same mistake this evening, eh?
Topics: Ricky Gervais, Tom Hanks, Golden Globes, TV and Film, Celebrity
Olivia Burke