A “humbled” “Cymru am byth!” were the words Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney exclaimed as they collected a national award for their work promoting Welsh culture in New York.
Before Wales takes on the USA in the World Cup, the co-owners of Wrexham were presented with the honour during a special “Wales and the World” concert in Times Square last night.
Reynolds and McElhenney received the “Diolch y Ddraig” (Dragon’s Thank-you) award at the concert in appreciation of their efforts to advance Welsh culture abroad.
Stars such as Ioan Gruffudd, Bryn Terfel, and Katherine Jenkins attended the concert, which was jointly arranged by S4C, the Welsh Government, and the Football Association of Wales.
Speaking from the stage, Rob McElhenney said: “I would like to thank the Welsh Government, the Football Association of Wales and S4C, and all of our friends in Wales for tonight’s honour.
Ryan Reynolds added: “Rob and I are first and foremost, we’re storytellers. And we are so humbled by the fact that the people of Wrexham and the nation of Wales have entrusted us to tell your story.
Rob asked “Do you want to want to try some Welsh Ryan?” before Ryan Reynolds responded “How about this? Cymru am byth!”
“When we started this endeavour, we had no idea that we were going to get the kind of response that we have from town, from the region or from an entire nation.
“So it’s been an honour over the past few years and it’s all culminating in this amazing dream come true.”
S4C chief executive Sian Doyle said that the presence of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at the concert was invaluable.
“The amount of noise there is going to be from the fact that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are going to be here, if people don’t know about Wales after this, I don’t know when it’ll happen,” she said.
“To be able to do that and show Wales to everyone, it is a privilege for S4C to be part of the event.”
You can watch the concert on S4C on Sunday 20 November.
