EXCLUSIVE: The veteran broadcaster made a heartfelt admission simply moments after she accepted the coveted award.
Dame Mary Berry gave a touching tribute to her late mother and father on the BAFTAs (Picture: Getty Photos for BAFTA)
Dame Mary Berry gave an emotional tribute to her late mother and father as she accepted the BAFTA Fellowship Award. On Sunday evening (Might 10), the 91-year-old TV chef delighted viewers as she took to the stage to simply accept her award on the 2026 TV BAFTA awards. The TV icon was a imaginative and prescient in pink as she appeared again on her 50-year profession as a beloved baker.
Stepping backstage, the mum-of-four shared how excited she was to simply accept the distinguished award, admitting that the wait had been “agony”. Talking to the press after accepting the gilded accolade, she admitted: “Sitting within the entrance row ready for all the things to occur was agony.”
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She additionally thanked her late son William who died in 1989 on the age of 19 (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)
Sharing her nervousness, the Nice British Bake Off star chuckled: “I listened to all people giving probably the most fantastic speeches and laughs, however I stored considering, ‘It is going to be me quickly. I hope they’re going to snigger with me’.
“Nevertheless a lot you consider it at residence, it is not fairly the identical as whenever you instantly see all these fantastic individuals who have come to see the awards and to obtain the awards.” Sharing how proud she felt of her achievement, Dame Berry admitted there was nonetheless one particular person she wished she may benefit from the particular second with.
The broadcaster continued: “On Bake Off, we gained an award, and I additionally gained an award for being the perfect choose, however that is one thing fairly totally different. It’s the most superb award, it is such an honour.
“You simply want that your mother and father have been nonetheless alive to get on the telephone and say, ‘Guess what, mum!'” Throughout her acceptance speech, the star went on to thank her husband and youngsters – Paul, 54, Annabel, 56, and Thomas, 58 – together with a particular notice to her son William, who handed away on the age of 19.
She added: “William is in heaven, however I thank him [too].” William died in a automobile crash whereas visiting residence from Bristol College in 1989. Mary’s daughter Annabel was additionally within the automobile, however fortunately survived the accident.
Beforehand talking concerning the tragic automobile crash on the Rosebud podcast with Gyles Brandreth, Mary mused: “William was the one which you would depend on.
“When the telephone rang after he was killed, all people mentioned, ‘I am so sorry to listen to about Thomas, as a result of Thomas was our wild one. I knew when the policemen got here by way of the door. I keep in mind saying to him, ‘It have to be an terrible factor so that you can inform us all’.”
Mary starred as a choose on the long-running baking competitors for the primary seven sequence from 2010. Since her departure, she has fronted a number of culinary exhibits for the BBC and was made a Dame within the 2020 Birthday Honours checklist for her providers to broadcasting, the culinary arts and charity.
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