Jack Whitehall Jokes His Mom Is Banned From His Award Shows

Jack Whitehall says that his mother is no longer welcome at award shows he’s hosting after she pulled a red-carpet stunt that left him embarrassed in public.

Like her son, Hilary Whitehall is an actor in her own right. She is best known for her recurring role in the early ‘90s comedy-drama “The Good Guys.”

Hillary has also featured in her son’s BBC series “Bad Education,” among other roles, which makes her no stranger to the limelight. Still, the younger Whitehall says he’s not too keen to keep sharing the red carpet with her.

Whitehall appeared on a recent episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” where he discussed his relationship with his mother.

During the conversation, posted on the talk show’s official YouTube channel, he explained that he had decided to “ban” his mother from attending his awards shows.

This followed a red carpet stunt she and his father pulled at the 2025 BRIT Awards, which he was hosting.

The pair famously showed up to the red carpet for the event dressed similarly to Kanye West and his wife, Bianca Censori, at the 2025 Grammy Awards.

“These photographs went viral,” Whitehall said of his parents’ red-carpet snapshots. “I said, ‘You're banned from coming to the show again if you're going to pull a stunt like that.’”

If his mom attending the Grammys dressed as Censori was not embarrassing enough for Whitehall, the British actor told Barrymore that she was already planning to ramp it up this year.

According to him, Hilary is threatening to wear the eye-catching outfit worn by Chappell Roan to the 2026 Grammy Awards.

The Mugler gown initially appeared as a deep-red cape draped over her, but when removed revealed a design that gave the illusion of very minimal covering.

“Yesterday, I woke up to a text from my mother,” Whitehall said. “It was a picture of the Chapell Roan dress, saying, ‘What date are the awards this year?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely not. Hilary, you are banned from coming to the show!"

Despite making jokes about his mother being “too supportive,” Whitehall acknowledged the role she has played in shaping his career.

He now also has first-hand experience of being a parent himself, following the birth of his daughter, Elsie, in September 2023.

In an October 2025 interview with The Times, Whitehall joked that his dad had painted a significantly different picture of what fatherhood entails.

“He very much led me to believe that the position of father was a ceremonial role like a provincial town mayor who would turn up for the grand opening, shake some hands, cut the cord, and then f-ck off until they need a car,” he said.

Another area that Whitehall discussed with Barrymore was his love of art, as well as a deep appreciation for his “Jungle Cruise” co-star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The British TV host recalled on “Drew Barrymore” how he had drawn caricatures of The Rock as a child, only for them to later reach Johnson himself.

“I stupidly told Emily Blunt that when I was a kid, I was obsessed with The Rock and that I'd found some old sketches that I'd done of him, and she showed him,” Whitehall explained.

Unfortunately, he said she omitted the fact that he had drawn them when he was younger.

“[She] didn't say that I'd drawn them when I was a child,” he recalled. “So, he thought I was like a full-on stalker that had just been sketching him on set.”

Whitehall’s interview with Barrymore came after the release of his new series, “The Burbs,” on Peacock.

The show follows Whitehall and Keke Palmer as Rob and Samira, a married couple who move back to the former’s childhood home in a seemingly quiet suburb.

Speaking to Awards Radar in early February, Whitehall said that some of the themes on the show mirror his own life.

“I am a new parent and have experienced the pressures that puts on a couple,” he explained. “Those felt like very relatable themes.”