Joe Wilkinson steals Keira Knightley’s heart in the romcom we never knew we needed.
12 November 2025, 15:18
Joe Wilkinson and Keira Knightley star in Waitrose’s new Christmas advert.
Picture:
YouTube/Waitrose
Keira Knightley stars opposite Joe Wilkinson in Waitrose’s romantic 2025 Christmas advert, inspired by Love Actually.
Keira Knightley made a magical rom-com comeback this week as Waitrose released its 2025 Christmas advert, which nods to one of her most iconic movie roles.
In the heartwarming film called ‘The Perfect Gift’, the British actress stars opposite Celebrity Traitors contestant Joe Wilkinson as part of a sweet story inspired by Love Actually.
The four-minute short starts with a meet-cute at a Waitrose cheese counter, where the two bond over their obsession with Sussex Charmer cheddar.
Joe, who plays Phil, plucks up the courage to ask the Hollywood icon, who stars as herself, out on a date – and she says yes.
The short film follows the couple’s sweet love story.
Picture:
YouTube/Waitrose
Fast forward a few days and the couple get cosy over mulled wine and take romantic strolls in the snow as their charming relationship blossoms.
It captures them baking, dancing and making Christmas crafts as they fall head over heels in love.
But their romance hits a stumbling block when Joe sees a mystery gift from a man named Mark left for Keira in her hallway.
Feeling deflated, he slumps around feeling lost until his mum encourages him to show his affections by cooking the actress her nan’s famous turkey pie.
“Cooking for someone is love, darling,” she tells him on FaceTime.
Joe plays fictional character Phil, while Keira plays herself.
Picture:
YouTube/Waitrose
So Phil gets to work in the kitchen, making pastry then chopping up leeks and cranberries to go in the nostalgic dish which he surprises her with at home.
Pulling off the tea towel covering the pie, he reveals his true feelings for Keira by writing ‘I love you’ in pastry letters on its lid, but he crumbles when a mystery man appears beside her.
As he walks away from her front door downcast and heartbroken, the actress runs after him and explains that Mark is her brother.
Relief floods through Phil before Keira surprises him by planting a kiss on his lips as she gushes: “I love you too.”
The two go back for another romantic smooch as the camera zooms out of the sparkling snow scene, with the end credit reading ‘and they ate happily ever after’.
Watch the magical Waitrose 2025 Christmas advert below:
Keira Knightley stars in Waitrose’s Christmas ‘mini romcom’ ad
Keira revealed why she said yes to Waitrose’s romcom-style Christmas advert, hinting she had a soft spot for love stories and her co-star Joe.
She said: “I love food, and so when I received this script where I get to fall head over heels in love over a shared love of cheese, I couldn’t turn it down.
“I adored working on this silly, fun and delicious film with Joe and I hope those watching it fall in love too.”
Joe added: “It was great to be back with Waitrose for their 2025 Christmas campaign. This year, Phil got to enjoy both the love and the food he truly deserved.
“As you can imagine, it was tough having to eat the delicious Waitrose food and falling in love with Keira, but I just got on with it, like the trooper I am.”
The script makes some hilarious references to Love Actually.
Picture:
YouTube/Waitrose
Fans went wild for the supermarket’s latest offering, taking to YouTube to share their thoughts on the new festive film.
“Now, thats how you do it. A cracking Christmas advert. Funny, heart warming and it felt like Christmas,” exclaimed one viewer.
“4 minutes of cinematic, funny, emotional, and genuinely joyful wonder! And James’ ‘She’s A Star’ – bravo!!,” gushed another.
A third said: “Quite simply the best Xmas advert for years.”
While a fourth added: “Waitrose, well done, for the wholesome advert, and for making Love Actually 2.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.heart.co.uk ’
