Sir Richard Branson wears lipstick and red skirt as he dresses as flight attendant following bet with Tony Fernandes

 
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13 May 2013

Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson has donned lipstick and a red skirt to honour a bet.

The Virgin Group founder also had his legs shaved in order to help out as a flight attendant on an AirAsia flight from Perth, Australia, to Malaysia, after losing a bet to the airline's chief Tony Fernandes in 2010 over the success of their Formula One racing teams.

Mr Fernandes' Lotus outfit finished two spots above Sir Richard's Virgin team in that season's table.

After the six-hour flight, Mr Fernandes gleefully declared that Sir Richard's skills as an attendant were "rubbish", and that he was being fired immediately.

A cheerful Sir Richard, who was tasked with pouring beverages, serving meals and making flight announcements, posed with Fernandes and popped champagne after stepping out of the plane at Malaysia's main low-cost carrier terminal south of Kuala Lumpur.

Sir Richard said he was "glad to have gotten the bet over with and (was) looking forward to getting back into my clothes."

"I always wanted to be an air hostess, but it looks like I have to get back to normality," he added. The flight helped raise money for an Australian foundation for hospitalized children.

Asked how Sir Richard as an attendant, Fernandes joked, "Out of 10, maybe one, for a bit of humor."

"I wanted to kill him actually" for spilling the juice, the Malaysian businessman said.

"He looked at me, I said, 'don't you dare,' and the next thing I know, he tipped the whole tray on me," Fernandes added. "He and the girls mopped it up, but I was walking around the flight in my underwear for a while because I didn't bring another pair of trousers."

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