All The Worst Dressed Stars At The 2025 BAFTA TV Awards

Why the 2025 BAFTA TV Awards Red Carpet Felt So Chaotic

The TV BAFTAs have always had a different vibe from the film BAFTAs. The film ceremony leans sleek, polished, and slightly more formal. Television, on the other hand, invites personality. You get presenters, reality stars, drama nominees, comedy icons, musicians, and hosts all sharing the same carpet. That mix can be delicious. It can also be dangerous. Suddenly one person is channeling Old Hollywood, another is doing avant-garde tailoring, another is going full nightclub romantic, and someone else has decided that leggings count as black-tie if the blazer is expensive enough.

That clash of style languages is what made this year’s carpet so entertaining. It was not a disaster across the board. It was more like a group project where several participants were talented, but nobody checked whether their slides matched. The strongest looks had a clear point of view. The weaker ones had too many ideas fighting for camera time. If there was a recurring problem, it was this: silhouette overload. Trains, ruffles, mini hems, cutouts, shoulder structures, glitter, corsetry, and menswear twists were all trying to dominate at once.

Fashion should surprise, but it also needs editing. The stars who landed in the worst-dressed conversation were usually not guilty of having bad taste. They were guilty of having one good idea too many. And on a red carpet, “too much” is not a small problem. It is the whole problem.

The Looks That Landed in the Worst-Dressed Conversation

Billie Piper: The Pink Experiment That Couldn’t Pick a Lane

Billie Piper’s pastel pink look was the kind of outfit that makes you pause, tilt your head, and then tilt it again as though the second tilt might reveal the logic. The off-the-shoulder neckline was elegant. The color was fresh. The problem started when the rest of the dress turned into a design committee meeting: pleated mini skirt, black belt detail, dramatic train, sheer black tights, and towering shoes. On paper, that sounds punky and fun. On the carpet, it felt like the upper half belonged to a romantic evening gown and the lower half belonged to a rebellious stage costume that missed its soundcheck.

There was a great look hiding in there somewhere. In fact, there may have been two great looks hiding in there, which is exactly the issue. If the silhouette had stayed long and fluid, the neckline could have done all the work. If it had gone full mini with cleaner styling, the look could have leaned modern and mischievous. But combining both ideas made the outfit feel indecisive rather than daring. Billie did not look underdressed or sloppy. She looked over-conceptualized, which is a very fancy way of saying the dress needed fewer opinions.

Laura Whitmore: Sharp Tailoring, Murky Message

Laura Whitmore stepped out in a black-and-white tailoring moment that seemed to be reaching for retro tuxedo glamour. The contrast lapels and crisp palette gave it immediate visual punch, and the idea of bringing suiting to the BAFTA TV carpet was not the problem. The issue was how the pieces related to one another. The cropped jacket, waistcoat-inspired front, exposed midriff area, and wide trousers each pulled the look in a different direction.

Good tailoring feels precise. This felt busy. It was as if the outfit wanted to be a tuxedo, a jumpsuit, and a red-carpet power look all at once. Instead of creating sophistication, the styling created confusion. The result was not ugly. It was simply unresolved. That is often worse on a red carpet, because cameras love confidence and hate hesitation.

Jessie J: A Boardroom Power Suit That Ate the Ballroom

Jessie J wore a burgundy oversized suit with a striped shirt and tie, and there is usually something irresistibly cool about a woman in swaggering menswear on a red carpet. Done right, it reads sharp, subversive, and expensive. Done wrong, it reads like the creative director yelled “more shoulder!” from across the room and nobody asked a follow-up question.

The exaggerated proportions swallowed Jessie’s frame instead of sharpening it. The color was rich, the shirt-and-tie styling had character, and the makeup was strong, but the overall silhouette leaned so oversized that the look lost shape. Rather than projecting effortless authority, it felt bulky and slightly costume-adjacent. There is a version of this outfit with cleaner shoulders, more disciplined volume, and a better waist story that absolutely works. This one looked like the suit arrived ten minutes before Jessie did and claimed all the oxygen.

Christine McGuinness: When a Cutout Becomes the Whole Plot

Christine McGuinness chose a floor-length white satin gown with a dramatic chest cutout framed by teardrop embellishments. The fabric had a liquid glow, and white can look stunning on a BAFTA carpet when the silhouette is controlled. Here, though, the cutout demanded so much attention that the rest of the dress barely got a sentence in.

A striking detail should enhance a gown. It should not hijack it. The cutout here felt less sculptural than distracting, and the embellishments pushed the design away from modern glamour and toward “sci-fi mermaid with an aggressive stylist.” That may sound harsh, but the dress really did spend all its energy on the center panel and left the rest of the silhouette to just stand there politely. Red-carpet fashion needs a focal point, not a wrestling match.

Claudia Winkleman: Leggings at the BAFTAs, a Gamble for the Ages

Claudia Winkleman is one of those rare public figures who can often get away with wearing exactly what she wants because the look is so deeply, unmistakably hers. Black tailoring, heavy fringe, sharp shoes, and a refusal to chase trends are part of the brand. So when she arrived in a sleek black blazer, black leggings, and white pointed heels, the reaction split immediately down the middle.

On one hand, it was classic Claudia. On the other, it was still leggings at the BAFTAs. The blazer was polished, yes. The shoes were crisp, yes. But the lower half made the whole look feel more backstage than black tie. If this had been a talk-show taping or a fashionable dinner, no one would have blinked. At a major awards ceremony, it looked undercooked. Not bad in the sense of taste. Bad in the sense of effort level. It was the fashion equivalent of replying-all with “Looks good!” and no further contribution.

Alan Cumming: Charming Host, Divisive Red-Carpet Math

Alan Cumming was always going to take a risk. That is part of the fun of Alan Cumming. His red-carpet look mixed classic black-and-white eveningwear with a more conceptual, almost skirted or wide-volume lower silhouette. In theory, that kind of fashion playfulness fits his personality and his role as host. In practice, the proportions felt a little too theatrical before the show had even started.

Hosting gives you permission to be memorable. It does not automatically give every experiment a pass. The problem was not that the outfit was unusual; the problem was that it felt more like an idea than a fully resolved ensemble. It did not look sloppy. It looked cerebral. Unfortunately, “cerebral tuxedo” is not always a winning red-carpet genre. Sometimes viewers just want the clothes to make sense before the monologue begins.

Anna Maxwell Martin: High Drama, Higher Ruffles

Anna Maxwell Martin’s dramatic black asymmetric gown was one of the night’s most polarizing looks, which is usually a sign that something interesting happened. The layered ruffles and sculptural shoulder detail created genuine impact. Nobody would accuse this look of being forgettable. But memorable and flattering are not always roommates.

The issue was balance. The oversized construction around the shoulder and hips overwhelmed the line of the dress, while the white pointed heels introduced a visual interruption that kept dragging the eye downward at exactly the wrong time. There was craftsmanship here, absolutely. There was even a certain editorial courage. But the final effect was closer to wearable installation than elegant eveningwear. If a dress enters the room before the person does, it had better be bringing perfect harmony with it. This one brought drama and then forgot to bring calm.

Layton Williams: Fearless, Fashion-Forward, and Not Quite Finished

Layton Williams wore a cropped black jacket with metallic embellishment, bare chest, and slim black trousers. Let’s start with the obvious: confidence was not the problem. The look had stage presence for days. It also had genuine star quality, which matters because so many red-carpet disasters fail simply because the person inside the outfit disappears. Layton absolutely did not disappear.

Still, the outfit felt more performance-ready than ceremony-ready. The cropped proportions, exposed torso, embellished sleeves, and tight trousers all competed rather than complemented. The styling needed either one more grounding element or one less statement feature. As it stood, the ensemble seemed suspended somewhere between pop-star rehearsal, fashion editorial, and awards-show arrival. That can be exciting. It can also leave you thinking, “Almost.” On this carpet, “almost” was enough to push it into the worst-dressed debate.

Maura Higgins: Princess Volume with a Hint of Costume Department

Maura Higgins wore a pale blue halter-neck gown with an open back and a huge, sweeping skirt. Viewed from certain angles, it was properly cinematic. The color was soft and eye-catching, and the backless construction gave the dress a little tension and glamour. But then the skirt arrived. And kept arriving.

Volume can be stunning when it feels intentional and architectural. Here it bordered on theatrical in a way that made the look feel less red carpet and more premium pantomime. The bodice and skirt did not fully belong to the same story. One part said sleek modern siren; the other part said Cinderella after a significant fabric budget increase. That clash made the dress feel more costumey than chic. Not a total miss, but definitely one of the most divisive outfits of the evening.

What These BAFTA TV Awards 2025 Looks Had in Common

The common thread running through the worst dressed BAFTA TV Awards 2025 conversation was not bad fabric, cheap styling, or a lack of confidence. Most of these looks had money, polish, and intention behind them. The problem was editing. Again and again, the weaker outfits suffered from the same trio of issues: too many focal points, silhouette imbalance, and mixed style references.

Billie Piper had romance, punk, and avant-garde structure all wrestling for dominance. Laura Whitmore’s tailoring could not decide whether it was classic tuxedo or red-carpet remix. Jessie J’s suit turned power dressing into proportion overload. Christine McGuinness put so much emphasis on one detail that the whole gown became that detail. Claudia Winkleman made minimalism look undercommitted. Anna Maxwell Martin and Maura Higgins both proved that high drama needs discipline, or it starts to feel like wardrobe cosplay.

That is why the best red-carpet style often looks deceptively simple. Even when the design is bold, the message is clear. The viewer understands the assignment in one glance. With these outfits, the eye kept searching for a conclusion that never quite arrived. And on a photo-heavy, instantly judged event like the BAFTA TV Awards, clarity is everything.

The Counterpoint: Not Every Risk Failed

One reason the weaker looks stood out so sharply is that a few stars demonstrated exactly how to do red-carpet drama without losing control. Nicola Coughlan, for example, embraced volume and statement detail in a black gown topped with oversized ivory rosettes, yet the look still felt coherent and deliberate. That is the difference between “fashion moment” and “fashion emergency.” One has a clear hierarchy of design. The other throws every decorative idea onto the carpet and hopes for applause.

That contrast matters because it proves the night was not hostile to ambition. The BAFTA TV Awards 2025 red carpet welcomed boldness. It just punished confusion. If there is a lesson here, it is not “play it safe.” It is “commit better.”

500 More Words on the Experience of Following the BAFTA TV Awards Style Debate

There is a very specific experience that comes with watching a red carpet like the 2025 BAFTA TV Awards unfold in real time, and it has almost nothing to do with whether you care deeply about lapels, trains, or hemlines. It is about participation. The modern award-show fashion cycle is half runway, half live sports, and half group chat chaos. Yes, that is three halves. Red-carpet math has never respected arithmetic, and frankly neither did several of these outfits.

First, there is the anticipation stage. Photos begin to trickle in. You see one strong look and think, “Oh, tonight could be good.” Then a riskier ensemble appears, and suddenly the evening changes from elegant to fascinating. The BAFTA TV Awards are especially good for this because television stars often dress with a little less rigid perfection than movie stars. That looseness creates room for personality, but it also creates room for chaos. The audience gets both glamour and plot twists.

Then comes the social phase. Someone posts Billie Piper’s pink look and half the comments say iconic while the other half say the dress is fighting itself. Claudia Winkleman appears in leggings and white heels, and a thousand people instantly divide into two tribes: “This is exactly why she’s a legend,” and “Please tell me she forgot her actual trousers in the car.” Christine McGuinness shows up in a highly sculptural gown, and suddenly everyone becomes a fashion theorist, using phrases like “editorial” and “overworked” as if they are judging a graduate design showcase.

That is what makes worst-dressed conversations so sticky. They are not really about cruelty when done well; they are about decoding. Viewers are trying to understand why an expensive look did not land. They are looking for the missing ingredient: Was it the styling? The proportions? The shoes? The fact that the dress belonged in a magazine spread instead of bright afternoon BAFTA photography? Fashion fans love solving that puzzle.

There is also the oddly nostalgic pleasure of a truly divisive carpet. For a few hours, everyone is reacting to the same images at once. In an online culture where attention is usually shattered into tiny pieces, an awards-show red carpet still has the power to create a shared spectacle. One person loves the theatrics. Another person begs for tailoring. Someone else insists that the most criticized look is secretly the only one with any personality. Nobody fully agrees, and that is exactly why the event stays fun.

The BAFTA TV Awards 2025 delivered that experience beautifully. Even the misses were useful. They gave the night texture. They created contrast. They reminded us that celebrity style is most entertaining when it is a little messy, a little ambitious, and just self-serious enough to invite debate. A perfect red carpet can be admired. A weird red carpet can be remembered. And if we are being honest, memory is the stronger accessory.

Conclusion

The 2025 BAFTA TV Awards red carpet was not short on personality. That was both its charm and its downfall. The worst-dressed stars of the evening were not the least stylish people in attendance; they were simply the ones whose outfits tried to say too much, too loudly, all at once. Billie Piper’s pink confection, Jessie J’s oversized suiting, Laura Whitmore’s hybrid tailoring, Christine McGuinness’s dramatic cutouts, Claudia Winkleman’s leggings gamble, Alan Cumming’s conceptual formalwear, Anna Maxwell Martin’s sculptural ruffles, Layton Williams’s performance-ready statement, and Maura Higgins’s oversized princess moment all prove the same point: fashion risks need discipline.

And yet, that is exactly why the night was so entertaining. A red carpet with zero misses is like a TV finale with zero drama: technically polished, emotionally forgettable. The BAFTA TV Awards 2025 gave us both excellent television and excellent fashion debate. In the end, that may be the most TV outcome possible.