Yahoo News ITV's Olivier Awards coverage in hot water with viewers for 'cutting' late star's honour
ITV have landed in hot water with angry theatre fans for 'cutting' one of those most moving moments of this year's Olivier Awards, when a late star received a posthumous accolade at the annual event.
The biggest date in the British theatre calendar and an internationally renowned ceremony, the Oliviers 2024 were held at London's iconic Royal Albert Hall on Sunday evening, but fans in the UK and Ireland had no way of watching live coverage, as the stream was restricted to viewers in the rest of the world and ITV, rather than airing the awards live, showed highlights later in the night, after repeats of The Chase and Tipping Point and the return of Midsomer Murders took priority in its primetime schedule.
When the show did eventually air, running until midnight as many viewers complained about the late start time, the ITV version brushed past some of the most important accolades of the night, including both Supporting categories for actors and actresses in plays. That meant Dear England's Will Close and late actress Haydn Gwynne saw their moments of glory restricted to just a few seconds.
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Hayden passed away last year aged 66, just a month after being diagnosed with cancer and, as well as earning critical acclaim for her role in Billy Elliot the Musical, had countless TV credits to her name, including Drop the Dead Donkey, Peak Practice, Merseybeat and The Windsors.
She won Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her star turn in When Winston Went to War with the Wireless, with her son Orlando Phipps at Royal Albert Hall to accept the trophy on her behalf. However, rather than seeing the lead up to Haydn's win and Orlando's speech in full, in which he talked about his mum's was a career-long dream to win an Olivier; the emotional moment was restricted to a fleeting clip towards the end of the ITV Oliviers broadcast.
And it didn't take long for complaints to come flooding in on social media. Taking to X as one of many critics who slammed the 'shameful' and 'disrespectful' snub, one wrote: "Can’t believe @ITV #OlivierAwards put supporting actor and actress in a play as part of the “other awards this evening” montage. Am so disappointed I could not see the late Haydn Gwynne be recognised."
A second reacted: "Haydn Gwynne didn't even get a proper announcement as a winner for best supporting actress. ITV can get in the bin"
