Sometimes in life there are those real ‘Dear Diary’ moments. For me, it was actually the entire week, last week. After a fun time with Ann Summers (see here), an amazing weekend away (review on Ston Easton coming soon) and then the biggest event of the Condé Nast and GQ calendar (hosting a table at GQ Men Of The Year), it really was a week to remember. On top of this, I managed to squeeze in a few meals at some incredible London restaurants, do my full time job, learn some Hebrew, work out and even head home back to my beloved home town in Wales. Phew! Who needs sleep.
After months of planning, strategy and meticulous execution, GQ managed to pull off the event of the year; GQ Men Of The Year. A black tie affair in the beautiful Royal Opera House, this was a night that will go down in history. Be prepared as I’m about to do some seriously cringe name dropping!
After a briefing (no excessive drinking, host your table well and most of all, mingle), myself and the team brought glamour to the office and got ready at our desks in less than an hour. In a helicopter mist of hairspray, perfume and fake tan, we popped on our dresses and headed to the venue. When we arrived, we were greeted by the red carpet (still with the vinyl on as us staff had to get there early), paparazzi and fans. Inside, we made the walk through 30 male models, each dressed in tuxedo’s from the sponsor, (Hugo Boss) and grabbed the first of many glasses of champagne and waited for the A Listers to arrive.
Moments later, I was rubbing shoulders with a newly bleached haired Lewis Hamilton, Chelsea’s José Mourinho, Christophe Waltz, Tinie Tempah, Will Ferrell and many many more. Awkwardly I kept having that ‘Hi.. oh.. wait.. I don’t actually know you…’ moment when you see a celebrity and forget that you don’t actually know them. There was no room for selfies here, you have to act seriously cool. I was in awe at the sheer beauty of some of the females (particularly Foxes, she is ab-sol-ute-ly stunning) and was most surprised at just how handsome in the flesh Paul Rudd actually is.
When it got to the time for dinner and the awards, I squeezed past Blur, accidentally bumped in to Jordan Dunn and said my hello’s as GQ online Editor Nick introduced me to Jim Chapman and Tanya Burr. When getting to the most amazing table with full view of the stage, I chatted to the guests on my table.
As our host for the evening, Mr Samuel L Jackson took to the stage to introduce the event and we eagerly anticipated the winners; each of us guessing who could win.
There were 22 awards in total ranging from Best Actor to Best Band. Each award was presented by a celebrity so we were all super excited to see the likes of Elton John, Claudia Winkleman and others up on stage giving inspiring speeches.
Without question, the best speech of the evening was from the insane Will Ferrell, accepting his award for Best Comedian.
My drink of the evening was white wine and we ate the most divine beetroot salad, fish dinner and cheesecake dessert. My outfit of choice (after many, many dresses) was a simple black number and a clutch. My makeup was entirely Guerlain.
Many are shocked that my dress was from ASOS at just £28, paired with some sky high gold Jimmy Choo’s and a Hugo Boss black clutch.
At the after party we met some incredible people. Arriving home at 3.30am (on a school night), you can imagine how we were all feeling the next day…
What’s been your recent ‘dear diary moment’?
