Celebrity Traitors, Rivals and This Morning: Unexpected TV stars join Keira Knightley in Waitrose Christmas advert
Adorable and full of sweet surprises, Waitrose have swept in with the perfect advert for the festive season
After the backlash against this year's John Lewis Christmas advert, Waitrose have stepped in to save the day with their joyful offering that's packed full of unexpected stars from the likes of Rivals and This Morning.
In Waitrose’s festive romcom Christmas campaign last year, The Perfect Gift, Keira Knightley played herself, meeting an everyday local man named Phil (Joe Wilkinson). The pair bonded over a love of cheese at the Waitrose deli counter before heading off on a date.
A classic misunderstanding ensued, before Phil finds "the perfect gift" for Christmas for his new girlfriend in the form of a homemade turkey pie using his Nan's recipe, with "I love you" written on the top in pastry - awwww.
This year, there's a sequel! Instead of a new cast, Keira and Joe are back for the six minute extravaganza, The Perfect Gift 2. And 23 years after getting married in Love Actually, Keira Knightley is getting married again - but sadly, it's not to Phil...
Keira is just about to wed the clearly dastardly Hugo Bunty-Griffin, Phils love 'rival' played by none other than Rivals star Alex Hassell. Hugo, in a clear parody of Rupert Campbell-Black, seems to adore nothing as much as his own reflection, let alone his sweet wife-to-be.
Since splitting with Keira, poor Phil is left sad and alone, sporting a dumbledore-length beard and being reminded just how much of a loser he is by none other than Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond.
While tangled in his own facial hair and ruminating on losing one of the nation's most talented actresses to man who wasn't wearing a prosthesis during those naked tennis scenes in Rivals, This Morning run a segment on her upcoming nuptials to rub salt in Phil's wounds.
But fear not, he no longer has to use Waitrose Polar Bear Bao Buns as his therapists and only friends, because he has IRL mates who show up to coax him out of his misery.
Not only do they come knocking with armfuls of positivity, they're also armed with the supreme way to win Keira back in the form of loaded Waitrose shopping bags.
Together, the trio have the ultimate weapon to stop the wedding and reunite Keira and her clear one true love, 'Phil Phil,' - only the ingredients for a beef flipping Wellington.
Nothing says "stop the patriarchal institution you're about to enter into that won't benefit you in any way", like a perfectly cooked beef tenderloin encompassed in lattice pastry, accompanied by a jar literally emblazoned with the words "marry me instead?"
There's more classic romcom tropes before Phil can interrupt the wedding and deliver his message - a flat tyre, a fall that nearly sees the Wellington spattered all over the aisle like blood at a crime scene, but Phil delivers his gift to Keira eventually.
Pushing the Wellington and jar of something undefinable her way, he silently pleads, "don't marry this handsome cheat, be my wife and shop at Waitrose with me for ever more."
Good news ahead guys, Keira's well up for this. The nefarious Hugo is left at the altar, and after Phil had been unceremoniously ejected from proceedings before knowing whether the magical Wellington had done its job, he gets his answer.
Returning home from wandering the streets and having a little scream of pure despair into the ether, Phil finds Keira in his kitchen.
Her wedding dress is covered with an apron and she's set to work making the perfect proposal acceptance platter, not before we're hit with a giddying nod to iconic romcom Notting Hill.
"I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy", Keira says as viewers collectively die of nostalgia, before 80's power ballad The Power of Love begins playing and all proposals are accepted - Keira and Phil seal the deal with a kiss.
Right, after all that cuteness and food, I need a sit down and a cheese plate. Keira and Joe also better have signed on to do this again next year, because Christmas just won't be Christmas without The Perfect Gift 3 (I reckon by that stage it'll probably be Keira wanting a spa break and a cleaner, but I'll try not to be a Scrooge, it's Christmas after all.)
