After charming audiences as a red carpet host during the 2023 Oscars, Ashley Graham will return to those duties as the host of WWD’s red carpet livestream at the 2025 Golden Globes on Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The pre-show will be available to stream on wwd.com/golden-globes, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and on Amazon Live, and the Amazon Live channel available on Prime Video and FireTV.
“I just love people and I am always curious about people’s stories,” Graham said. “Obviously when you’re on a red carpet, you don’t get to go into the depths of why [somebody’s] there and all that, so it’s a little bit more transactional. So I just try to make it fun. I like being a little bit fun and goofy on a red carpet.”
Ashley Graham
LUCY HELENA VAN ELLIS
Having walked her fair share of red carpets, Graham aims to bring some levity when she’s on the other side of the microphone.
“I know how these things feel when you’re getting ready, with the nerves and the photos, and you just want somebody there that’s a little bit disarming, that’s just going to have an easy, fun conversation where you can be yourself and vice versa,” she said. “I like to be on the other side making somebody feel very good and happy about why they’re there.”
Leading up to the big event, Graham is trying to watch as many of the nominated films and TV shows as she can.
“I’m in the middle of ‘The Substance’ right now. I am truly obsessed with it. And then I try to look up people’s interviews from press junkets to see more in-depth about why they picked the role, just to have a few anecdotes for if and when I do get to see them,” Graham said. “The thing is, you don’t know if you are going to see some of these people. Sometimes you run into people that you didn’t even know were going to be there. For me, it’s about knowing as much as I can before about who’s there, what films they did, and just to get a perspective.”
Sharing the same agents as several of the expected attendees will come in handy: Graham plans to reach out to her team to see if anyone can give her some behind-the-scenes fashion intel.
Ashley Graham
LUCY HELENA VAN ELLIS
“Sometimes you have three dresses made for you and you don’t know what you’re going to wear until the last minute,” she said. “I feel like I’m getting an inside scoop. I’m like ‘at least give me the designer. You don’t have to give me silhouettes.’”
As for her own look, Graham is well prepared. In May she had a custom dress made for a potential upcoming awards show, and it’s been sitting in her closet ever since, waiting for the right moment.
“Now I finally have a reason to wear it!” she said. “I’m going to be doing YouTube tutorials on boob tape beforehand.”
Fashion-wise, she’s hoping to see some bold colors.
“I’m not saying neon, I’m just talking about a commitment to a color,” Graham said, citing Michelle Williams’ saffron Vera Wang gown at the 2006 Oscars, Gemma Chan at the 2019 Oscars in Valentino pink and Lupita Nyong’o’s pale blue Prada gown at the 2014 Oscars as favorite examples.
“I appreciate when somebody steps outside of the obvious shimmer or white and black and really goes for it with a bold color choice,” Graham said. “That’s always my favorite because I feel like, wow, there was intention with this color, and also there has to be a confidence to be able to do it as well.”
While her Oscars hosting gig last year for ABC definitely included fashion talk, she’s looking forward to using her fashion knowledge to dive deeper on the WWD livestream.
“I’m really excited to be doing this with WWD because we get to talk a lot more about fashion,” Graham said. “I feel like being in the fashion world and being so obsessed with the cuts and the colors and the designers and why the actor or actress chose this, those are the conversations that I’m really excited to have.”
