Gold confetti rained down on Andria Zafirakou, an art and textiles teacher from London, as she was named winner of the US$1 million (Dh3. 67m) Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2018 at a star - studded awards gala in Dubai on Sunday.
Ms Zafirakou was feted by an audience of more than 2, 000 education, entertainment, business and government leaders in a lavish ceremony at Atlantis, The Palm, hosted by South African comedian and The Daily Show host, Trevor Noah. The trophy was delivered by F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
A video broadcast followed Mr Hamilton as he drove to the awards gala in a convertible white Mercedes escorted by Dubai Police. When he finally arrived on stage to hand Mr Noah the award, the comedian asked what took him so long.
“There were speed bumps everywhere, †quipped Mr Lewis, as the audience laughed.
“I said I needed the fastest man in Dubai, †said Mr Noah. “And then you were, like, cruising with the police. I thought you were going to be flying, what happened?â€
“I got lost, I’m sorry, †said Mr Lewis. “The navigation wasn’t working. â€
“Yes, because they keeping building new things in Dubai, man, †said Mr Noah. “It’s like they can’t stop building. â€