Jonathan Ross’ annual Halloween bash, once the most sought-after showbiz party in town, has seen a change in recent years.
The chat show host’s legendary celebrations made a comeback last year after a three-year hiatus with no spooky festivities at his residence.
The famous house party was called off in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and again the following year as his daughter Betty, 33, battled fibromyalgia.
In October 2022, Jonathan hosted a party at Camden hotspot KOKO, but regular proceedings resumed last year with the TV star creating a chilling spectacle outside his expansive Hampstead property.
However, the emphasis shifted from celebrity guests to trick or treaters. Children were photographed outside Jonathan’s eerily decorated home last Halloween, with many more stopping by to marvel at the impressive display featuring creepy stone columns and cobwebs.
A massive terrifying clown was positioned behind a metal gate outside Jonathan’s house, with characters seen welcoming the general public. There were no A-list guests in costume outside the father-of-three’s home, but Jonathan still pulled out all the stops to commemorate All Hallows’ Eve.
Performers in scary outfits, including a clown and vampire knight, were seen greeting the public, while a spine-chilling display bathed in red light added an extra layer of spookiness to the atmosphere, reports the Mirror.
Before the change, renowned celebrities such as Dame Joan Collins, Claudia Schiffer, Nicole Scherzinger and Alan Carr would be seen at Jonathan’s annual Halloween bash.
The 2019 party, which unknowingly turned out to be the TV presenter’s last house party, saw Scarlett Moffatt and Craig Revel Horwood stealing the limelight with their fantastic costumes.
Former Queen of the Jungle Scarlett channelled her inner Edina from Absolutely Fabulous for Jonathan Ross’ legendary annual Halloween party. The former Gogglebox star was among the first celebrities to arrive at the TV host’s north London home for his 2019 bash.
Scarlett brought a friend dressed as Patsy from Ab Fab, and they arrived with giant inflatable bottles of champagne and fake cigarettes. Strictly’s Craig also made an early appearance, causing a stir in a flamboyant Cruella Deville outfit.
He was barely recognisable in a Madonna-esque red corset, knee-high boots and a Dalmatian-spotted coat. However, the award for the most creative costume has to go to Irish actress Aisling Bea, who came as Coleen Rooney.
She wore a printout of Coleen’s Twitter post from her feud with Rebekah Vardy around her neck. Aisling also sported a Sherlock Holmes deerstalker and pipe, referencing Coleen’s detective work to find out who was leaking stories from her private Instagram account.
Actor Simon Pegg got into the Halloween spirit, donning an axe murderer costume complete with a chequered shirt and an axe. This Morning’s Holly Willoughby reused her outfit from the day’s show, turning up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, alongside her husband Dan Baldwin dressed as one of the flying monkeys.
Judge Rinder made quite the entrance in a skirt and full headdress, seemingly channelling Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s doomed second wife. Comedian Michael McIntyre chose a joker outfit, but opted for a mask instead of face paint.
Martin Freeman displayed his film fandom by dressing as a Ghostbuster, while David Walliams was a contender for best costume with his convincing Dr Evil getup – complete with fluffy white cat. Alan Carr went all out as the creature from The Shape Of Water.
Not one to avoid controversy, Jimmy Carr caused a stir by dressing as an abused woman from The Handmaid’s Tale. At KOKO’s new location in 2022, Jonathan Ross was a haunting sight with his mouth painted jet-black and white teeth on his face.
His spooky black cape and shirt combo, topped off with a top hat, was just right for the evening’s eerie delights. Outside the venue, he happily mingled and took selfies with fans, joined by actors in equally horrifying makeup aiming to impress the crowd.
Celebrity sightings included Melanie C of the Spice Girls, who shone as Morticia Addams in a bold black gown and swapped her signature brunette tresses for long, jet-black hair. Paloma Faith and comedian Alan Carr were spotted sharing a chuckle on the street, dressed up as the iconic twins from The Shining for their costume antics.
Jonathan Ross had previously cancelled his famous Halloween party at his house back in 2020 due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic potentially impacting the TV and entertainment industry if the virus spread at his event. The ITV host remarked at the time: “I had a feeling it [Covid-19] wasn’t going to be over yet and it does look like the figures are creeping up again.
“We always have a couple of hundred people to the party and as you know, about half of them are from show business. So if there was a breakout would wipe out half the shows on TV, so we don’t want that, we wouldn’t want to be a super-spreader event.”
That year, instead of hosting his usual gathering, Jonathan greeted trick-or-treaters from a safe distance, wearing a mask to prevent the spread of germs.
The following year, he chose not to invite celebrities to his home once more, but for a different reason. The comedian disclosed that his party would not make a comeback out of respect for his daughter Betty.
Jonathan, father to Harvey, 29, and Honey, 26, with spouse Jane Goldman, opened up on Good Morning Britain, sharing: “One of our children isn’t well… it’s fibromyalgia which is quite debilitating. She’s back home with us and we’re looking after her. My daughter, we thought she had Long Covid but discovered that she had fibromyalgia, so we want to be conscious of that and not have so much noise when she’s upstairs.”
Betty took to Instagram to reveal her condition, posting: “Fibromyalgia? I hardly know her. This is me letting y’all know I got a Fibromyalgia diagnosis. Shout out to the four people who all said they thought I had fibro, turns out y’all were right. There’s always a lot of weird feelings that come with a new diagnosis, but this one overall feels like a relief. It feels like my pain being acknowledged, and that with this diagnosis I can better find ways of managing my pain.”
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