Richard Branson gets his legs shaved in preparation for his first flight as an air stewardess on an Air Asia flight.Credit: Facebook
Sir Richard Branson has made good on a bet he lost, enduring a "manscaping" ahead of a charity fundraising flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur, on which he'll totter down the aisles in drag.
The billionaire entrepreneur dropped his trousers at a bar in the Perth CBD on Saturday night, allowing AirAsia stewardesses to shave his legs.
On Sunday - wearing make-up, high heels, stockings and a slightly agonised smile - he'll wait on passengers as part of a Grand Prix bet with AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandez from two years ago.
Richard Branson as the world has never seen him before. Hopefully.Credit: Jillian McHugh
There are many reasons why it has taken so long.
Sir Richard has been busy - breaking his leg, flying in a high-altitude hot air balloon and watching the second prototype of Virgin Galactic's space-bound vehicle break the sound barrier in the meantime.
But now it's payback time, and Sir Richard put on a brave face as he straddled bare-legged into a barber's chair, knowing funds from the flight will go to Starlight Foundation for ill children.
"Yeah, it's true. We both had Grand Prix teams and I was absolutely certain that I was going to win," Sir Richard said.
"Something went wrong. Of course the drivers of that race are no longer with us (laughs).
"I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here, but knew that one day I had to get it over with."
But no sooner had Sir Richard made good with his pledge than Mr Fernandez was dared into his own promise, announcing he would become one of Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourists, taking a usually very expensive flight for a few moments of weightlessness before plunging back through the atmosphere to earth.
"It's something I never, ever dreamed of doing," Mr Fernandez said.
"What he doesn't realise is once I go to space, there'll be a low-cost version - AirAsia Galactica, about 10 per cent of the price he's charging."
As to how far Sir Richard would go for charity, he said he'd keep his famous beard, of course.
"Have you not seen a stewardess with a beard before?," he asked.
"Only on Qantas," a cheeky cameraman replied.
AAP
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