LONDON-Joanna Lumley is set to return as the host of this year's BAFTAs. The 72-year-old actress - who hosted the awards bash in 2018, replacing Stephen Fry in the role - has been confirmed as the presenter of the annual awards show, which is to be staged on February 10. It's also been confirmed that the ceremony will feature a performance from Cirque du Soleil.

Emma Baehr, the Director of Awards at BAFTA, said: ''We're delighted to be returning to the iconic Royal Albert Hall for the third year and collaborating again with Cirque du Soleil. ''We're thrilled that Joanna has agreed to return as our host for a second year, she was fantastic and we're looking forward to the ceremony with her once again at the helm.''

Joanna previously admitted she was delighted to have been offered the chance to host the BAFTAs. She said: ''I'm really just literally the host. It's a good word, the host: it means make sure everybody is happy.

''My thrill of accepting this honour of presenting is because I adore film. The excellence of films is what I adore: the whole of the BAFTA film awards is about the brilliance of performances direction, art direction, costumes...''

Meanwhile, Amanda Berry - BAFTA's CEO - previously revealed that Joanna's acceptance speech for her BAFTA TV Fellowship in 2017 helped her to land the presenting role. She said: ''It is not an easy job.

You need to get the tone absolutely right. You need to be able to guide the audience seamlessly through proceedings while keeping the attention on the nominees.

''We were all taken aback by Joanna's brilliant speech when she received the BAFTA TV Fellowship last year. She was so charming and mesmerising. ''When we talked about candidates she was on the list from early on. It wasn't a difficult decision.''