Venus Williams on her tennis-inspired Met Gala 2026 outfit and why she was ‘shocked’ to co-host

With seven Grand Slam singles titles and five Olympic medals to her name, Venus Williams is no stranger to serving aces on the court.

But when she was tapped to co-chair the Met Gala 2026 alongside Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Anna Wintour — following in the footsteps of sister Serena, who co-hosted in 2019 — the tennis legend couldn’t believe it.

“When she became a Met Gala co-chair, I thought we’d won as a family. We were all so happy; it was like we all did it,” Williams, 45, told Page Six Style at Raising Cane’s after Monday night’s ball.

“So when I got the call, I was just shocked. I never thought that would happen — and of course you have to say yes! I was happy to be there tonight with my husband [actor Andrea Preti]. And Serena was there too, so it was a whole family thing.”

For her big Met Gala moment, Venus wore a “quite sparkly” custom Swarovski look based on Robert Pruitt’s “Venus Williams, Double Portrait,” her 2022 artwork commissioned by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

“All the inspiration came from art, which is the theme of the Met,” she told us.

Experience the Met Gala through the eyes of the front row — follow Page Six on Instagram to see every red carpet detail thanks to Ray-Ban Meta glasses, then shop the look to start filming your own POV.

The outfit’s pièce de résistance? A re-creation of the necklace Venus wears in the portrait, which was inspired by the intricate silver plate awarded to Wimbledon champions.

“It’s called the Venus Rosewater Dish, go figure,” said Venus, a five-time winner of the trophy.

Styled by Ronald Burton III, the athlete completed her look for the evening with glowing makeup by Karina Milan, an embellished braided updo by Jawara and a crystal-encrusted manicure by Gina Edwards.