'I'm exhausted just thinking about it': Richard Wilkins remembers partying with Russell Crowe after Oscar win

Richard Wilkins led Nine's Academy Awards red carpet coverage for 20 years in a row, but the 2001 ceremony might just be the most memorable for him.

It was only his second year working the carpet, but it was the magical night when Aussie Russell Crowe took home the Best Actor gong for Gladiator.

Of course, Dickie interviewed him on the red carpet, but it was after the show when the fun really began. "I was fortunate enough to be hanging out with him and his posse that night, roaring around town," the journalist remembers with a cheeky grin on his face.

Watch the video above.

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"When you win an Oscar on, on Oscar night, the city is yours," says Dickie, before revealing they were driven around Los Angeles in two huge black SUVs to endless parties.

"Popping into the Elton John party and going here and there and everywhere."

Though the Russell Crowe night may be Dickie's most exciting memory of the Oscars, he reflects on his time hosting the carpet with nothing but awe.

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He explains that a lot of planning and work actually goes into the gig: "I would spend weeks beforehand ringing all the publicists and telling them where we were gonna be."

Of course, it was all worth it – Dickie chatted with huge names as they made their way into the theatre, including Cameron Diaz, Angelina Jolie, Margot Robbie, Sandra Bullock, and more.

He shared a cute moment with Robbie at the 2015 ceremony, back before she was the huge Hollywood name we know her as today.

"Are you getting used to all this Hollywood stuff?," he asks, as she stands on the cramped carpet in a floor-length black gown.

"No, it's so weird!," she replied with a laugh, adding: "It's really fun, but it's weird."

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Adding to the craziness of the carpet, Dickie explains that the whole time he has a producer speaking into a microphone that's fed into his earpiece.

"Having producers in my ear and saying Nicole's just arrived, she's wearing a blue dress. She's coming down there and then doing radio interviews and things," he says.

"For me and, and my producer... you know you've earned your pay at the end of Oscars Day that's for sure."