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Sian Clifford reveals last-minute dash to make BAFTA Awards

Sian Clifford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge had to dash to a neighbour’s house for the BAFTA Awards due to technical difficulties.

The ‘Fleabag’ stars had planned to spend the ceremony – which was held virtually in July – together in Phoebe’s back garden, but their idyllic plans were thrown into "chaos" when staff from the event arrived and warned them they would cause sound issues with their close proximity to one another.

Sian – who scooped the Female Performance in a Comedy Programme BAFTA – recalled: "The whole thing was so ‘Fleabag’. When Phoebe and I are together, things like this often happen."

Of their original plans, she said: "Dappled sunlight, gorgeous lighting, everything planned…

"[I had a dress from Vampire’s Wives]. Really contemporary, beautifully made, fit me like a glove. I was very happy."

At first, the actresses were determined to "try and disprove" the technical support team wrong, but realised they needed to find another solution and scrambled to be ready just minutes before the ceremony started.

Sian told Closer magazine: "So we tried it – to try and disprove them and of course they were right.

"Then we tried with me sitting inside and Phoebe outside and the lighting was just terrible.

"Then she remembered our friend Josh from down the road was on holiday and said, ‘I’ve got his key!’

"We had to try and get his WiFi password while he’s up a mountain in Skye. It was absolute chaos – and this was five minutes before it began. Phoebe wasn’t dressed and I said, ‘You know it starts in, like, a minute?’ I’d showed up ready and she was like, ‘Whaaaaaat?’ "

During the preparations, the pair had called former ‘Fleabag’ star Jamie Demetriou to wish him luck for his show, ‘Stath Lets Flats’, for which he went on to win the Male Performance in a Comedy Programme gong, as well as Scripted Comedy – and Sian believes its success further highlighted her friend’s influence.

She said: "He’s ‘Fleabag’ alumnus. When you break down the British TV landscape of the last 12 months, the Fleabag’ influence- those doors that Phoebe Waller-Bridge has inched open for audacious, funny, irreverent and true storytellng on TV – are everywhere."