This year's Oscars ceremony was always going to be hotly-watched around the the world - after a year locked down, who isn't in need of some good old fashioned Hollywood glamour?
But amidst the posturing, fancy frocks and lightning flashes from the thicket of cameras came a moment of pure romance that sent Twitter into one unanimous swoon.
London-born Riz Ahmed, 38, who made history as the first Muslim nominee for best actor for his role in Sound of Metal, walked away with a best husband accolade before the event started as he paused on the red carpet to smooth his wife's hair for the cameras.
The star stopped in front of the step-and-repeat backdrop, saying "one second" to the assembled photographers as he smoothed Fatima Farheed Mirza's (30) raven hair behind her caped Valentino gown, adding, "I'm the official groomer for the evening."
Riz Ahmed pauses the #Oscars red carpet to fix his wife Fatima Farheen Mirza's hair: "I'm the official groomer" https://t.co/QrBqZ8y6n1 pic.twitter.com/YAGv6ut7Eu
— Variety (@Variety) April 25, 2021
Famously guarded about his family life, Ahmed only let slip in January that he and the A Place For Us novelist, who he met by chance in a cafe while filming Sound of Metal in New York, had tied the knot in 2020 during the pandemic with a small, socially-distanced ceremony in their back garden.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the actor revealed he had proposed over a game of Scrabble in the park: “I did that corny thing where I stole all the correct letters up and spelled out ‘Will you marry me?’” Their Oscars appearance is the first time they've officially been seen in public as a couple.
I need someone to look at me like Best Actor nominee Riz Ahmed looks at his wife Fatima Farheen Mirza! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/DjY9T8Oz9h
— Nancy Wang Yuen 王嵐芝 (@nancywyuen) April 25, 2021
And what a debut! The sweet act, captured for the world to see, instantly raised the bar for couple goals.
Not Riz Ahmed pausing the Oscars red carpet to fix his wife’s hair WHAT A PERFECT HUMAN pic.twitter.com/sc5m1ldHuC
— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) April 25, 2021
They’re clearly wild about each other.
