Pictured left: Photoshop pic of Branson by Lotus F1 Team when the bet was first announced

What began as a rather bizarre bet in December last year between Branson and Fernandes will soon see the former don the striking AirAsia red uniform and serve passengers on an AirAsia X’s London-Kuala Lumpur flight.

The challenge started when Fernandes, team principal of the Lotus F1 Team, expressed his doubts over Virgin Racing’s claim that it could be competitive in F1 using a wind tunnel. Branson, who owns Virgin Racing, then dared Fernandes to become a Virgin stewardess if Virgin Racing outraced Lotus FI.

Fernandes accepted the dare on condition that Branson dress up as a flight attendant and serve on his budget airline if Virgin Racing ended the season behind them in the championship.

(Lotus F1 and Virgin Racing were two of the four new teams out of the 12 that raced for the podium in the 2010 F1 season)

With the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi on Sunday Lotus F1 came out 11th while Virgin came out 12th

In the midst of celebrations at Abu Dhabi AirAsia and their counterparts at Virgin Racing were busy preparing for Branson’s inaugural flight as an AirAsia stewardess.

Fernandes gave Branson an AirAsia uniform and pinned an AirAsia stewardess’ badge on the Virgin Racing team principal and the two agreed how the bet would be settled.

Word is that Branson may have to shave his leg as AirAsia does not allow hairy stewardesses.

Fernandes said, “There has been a fantastic spirit of competition between us and Virgin Racing all season, and one of the first people to come and congratulate us on the pitwall was Richard. We have had this great bet running all season and now it’s time for Richard to start preparing himself for some hard work and the likely pain of a pair of high heels!

“We agreed last night that we will run an online charity auction for the seats on our Kuala Lumpur-London route to raise money for a charity of Richard’s choice and give fans of both teams the chance to be on the flight.”

Fernandes added that the date of the flight would be announced very soon and the aim “is to raise as much money as we can for a good cause so the discomfort Richard will go through is worth as much as it possibly can be!”

We expect a frenzy in snapping up the tickets once the flight is announced. Who wouldn’t pay to see Branson with shaved legs and make-up sashaying down the airplane aisle on high heels?

Watch this space for details on the date of the flight and how to enter the charity auction to bid for a seat.

• Photo courtesy of AirAsia

Featured image credit (waiter icon): Ockra/iStock