Alan Carr fiercely hits back at Royal Variety backlash with defiant statement amid Amanda Holden complaint
Alan Carr has jumped to the defence of himself and Amanda Holden after their gig hosting the Royal Variety Performance at the weekend was met with a barrage of backlash.
The duo replaced former presenter Bradley Walsh this year and were in charge of keeping the audience and viewers at home updated with what acts were due to perform as the evening progressed.
Before jumping into the show, the pair decided to have some banter with the audience, leaving Carr to note they looked like a “disappointing Love Island couple”.
He went on to tease Holden about her reputation for risque outfits when appearing on TV and joked it was “just on the right side of an Ofcom complaint” – which she had previously admitted to.
Other jokes from their opening speech included using Holden as a “human shield” against Just Stop Oil protestors and a jibe at “box-ticking” as Carr is gay and Holden is a woman.
Whilst the duo seemed thrilled with their performance throughout the night, several viewers at home had other ideas and many slammed their attempt at comedy on their X accounts.
Complaints ranged from branding their opening set as “painful” while others went as far as to claim ITV and show organisers had hit “rock bottom”.
The backlash prompted Holden to issue a statement on her Instagram account the following day after the show had aired, slamming those who trolled their performance during the charity event.
Posting a series of negative headlines about their performance, she wrote: “I know we should ignore. But it seems the same headlines literally word for word appear EVERY year….
“For whoever hosts @royalvarietyperformance – (Bradley Walsh got the stick last year ) so sad as it’s an honour to host this wonderful CHARITY event.
“This journalism is unspirited and awful to wake up to after such a joyous and successful evening. Me and @chattyman loved every second.
“All the big shows get battered… Merry Christmas you lovely lot. Our ratings were brilliant so that’s what counts.”
Not letting Holden face the backlash on her own, Carr has now commented on her post in support and once again backed up their presenting gig.
He expressed: “Amanda! You were brilliant and looked stunning – I loved every minute of being on that stage with you.
“The tabloids cherry-picked some spiteful unhinged tweets three years ago when I hosted it!!! It was like they’d seen a different show.
“Predictably mean-spirited sadly. Look, we felt the love and laughter in that room and someone not very well on Twitter can never take that away from us! Positive vibes only for Christmas!” (sic)
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The stand-up comedian wasn’t the only famous face who rallied behind Holden following her rant at the headlines that emerged after Sunday’s show.
The likes of Alex Scott, Gemma Atkinson, Sian Welby, Eamonn Holmes, Romesh Ranganathan, Claudia Winkleman and many others also penned supportive messages to the 53-year-old.