Matthew got together a few of his friends to host a lunch for the winners of the Auction for Ukraine on friday 24th June. Virgin Radio UK posted this picture from the lunch on Instagram and you can spot Colin Firth, Matt Smith, Chris Evans, Hugh Bonneville and Jack Savoretti.
Our lucky (and incredibly generous) #AuctionForUkraine winners at their lunch with Colin Firth, Matthew Goode, Matt Smith, Jack Savoretti, Hugh Bonneville and Chef Olli Dabbous at @hide_restaurant (as well as @chrisevanstfi and @thefrothycoffeeman of course). Thank you so much to all involved for raising over £59,000 for the @disastersemergencycommittee(with the wider auction raising over £838,000!) 👏 🇺🇦
📷 Virgin Radio UK Instagram.
Matthew joined Hugh Bonneville and Jack Savoretti to talk about their contribution to the Auction for Ukraine. The following summary is from Virgin Radio –
Matthew Goode, Hugh Bonneville and Jack Savoretti share how they came together for Auction For Ukraine
Virgin Radio
24 Jun 2022, 12:03
In an incredible charitable feat, the brilliant combination of Matthew Goode, Matt Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Colin Firth and Jack Savoretti, have raised a whopping £59,000 for the Auction for Ukraine. Today (24th June) the talented group will sit down to lunch together with the lucky auction winners, and while visiting The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, the showbiz stars revealed how they all got together for the good cause, and what’s next in the pipeline.
In total, the Auction for Ukraine raised a total of £838,900, with other amazing prizes, including a lunch with Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Dornan, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston, a Rod Stewart Meet and Greet in Las Vegas, and a signed guitar from Seasick Steve, just to name a few.
Downton Abbey co-stars Matthew and Hugh teamed up with Colin, Matt and Jack for their own special lunch (a seven-course meal no less!), and when asked how it all came to be, it was Matthew who led the charge.
He told Chris: “You were talking about a photograph and obviously Ukraine, and because of what you said, I nearly crashed into a Rolls Royce, which thankfully didn’t happen.
“So I just got home…I immediately phoned and said: ‘Would you like any of this stuff?’ And then it snowballed. I’ve worked with Hugh, which was an honour, of course. I just got on the phone with him. And Jack I haven’t seen for 15 years, when we were a couple of young blades drinking together!”
Old friend Jack added: “I got this amazing phone call from Matt. I was actually out walking the dogs. He phoned me and to get a phone call from this man is just wonderful. There’s enthusiasm, eccentricity, elegance, and he just said to me: “hello old chap, we must do something about Ukraine.’
“I thought that’s brilliant. It was so nice. It was a real time where everybody was with their heads in their hands thinking how can I help? What can I do? And he said: ‘I’m gonna call Chris Evans, we’re gonna make this happen.’ I knew the minute you guys were gonna get together that there was no stopping.”
When asked who’s doing what next, Hugh revealed his excitement for his next project, his memoir called Hiding Under The Piano, out in October.
Hugh confessed he felt slightly shamed into writing the book by his son, who was also putting pen to paper at the time.
He elaborated: “Last year, my son was able to go on and do a bit of travelling. He was travelling with a mate round Europe…and he said: ;I’m just gonna go into a bit of writing,’ and I thought that’s interesting. Sure enough, on day one, he sent me a picture of his word count on his document saying, ‘how many words have you written today dad?’ And I thought ‘oh that little cauliflower is really showing me up,’ so rang this agent back and I said ‘all right, I’ll take a book deal, I need to get on with this,’ as I’ll never do it and my son’s shaming me.”
Hugh found major success as Robert Crawley in beloved period drama Downton Abbey, and admitted it was fantastic to see a resurgence of popularity following the release of the second film earlier this year.
“It has been a wonderful ride for Downton,” Hugh added. “I think a lot of people found that it was a real tonic. It was made in that spirit that it was just a lovely piece of escape. And that’s what Julian Fellowes created for his loyal audience and it was great, it’s been a great run.”
Matthew isn’t resting on his Downton laurels either, and can next be seen in The Offer on new streaming service Paramount Plus.
The series, about making of The Godfather, was a “joy” to be a part of, according to the actor, who plays the iconic movie producer Robert Evans.
On the upcoming drama, Matthew explained: “[The Godfather] really and truly should never have gotten made, because there were so many difficulties to it. It’s essentially also a love letter to [Godfather Producer] Al Ruddy, because these days, whenever you watch a film, let’s face it, when it comes to the credits, you see 10 producers and 11 Executive Producers, and then subsections, etc. And he was just the sole producer. It’s very cool.”
Jack is currently promoting his latest album, Europiana Encore, with a number of festival dates and live performances.
The hunger for the ‘big break’ is still there for Jack, but he shared a real pinch-me moment recently that had him feeling reflective.
The musician said: “I actually drove by this morning, because I have to leave home at 5am, and I sort of woke up as the traffic stopped us. I looked up and my name was in lights as I drove into London. That’s one of the coolest things that’s I’ve done.”
Summary and pictures – Virgin Radio.
Bonus – Virgin Radio UK posted this instagram reel of Matthew taking part in the ‘News’ Quiz –
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfMYP0oDYes/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
📷 nikki_adow Twitter.
Chris Evans launches massive showbiz auction to raise money for Ukraine
Included in the auction lots is a lunch hosted by Matthew Goode, Matt Smith, Hugh Bonneville & Colin Firth (with a bonus Jack Savoretti thrown in).
Matthew is also auctioning off his Tom Ford suits –
He has donated several other items so check out the list.
Dan Nicholl from ‘Dan really likes wine’ will show an interview with Matthew as part of the Wine Future 2021 virtual conference programme. Very few details are available and we don’t know yet if this will be released on the Wine Future website to the public as well as conference attendees. More information to follow as we get it.
CELEBRITIES PARTICIPATING IN WINEFUTURE 2021
Dan Nicholl from South Africa and host of the very popular program Dan Really Likes Wine, will be providing the entertainment during the daily break between 18.15 and 18.30 CET. During these breaks Dan will show interviews with celebrities that have a passion for wine such as:
1- Matthew Goode – British actor and star of The Crown and Downton Abbey
You can still see Matthew’s contribution to this campaign on YouTube
Donations can be made here –
Details below. Check the YouTube channel tomorrow!
