Ashley Park Had a ‘Bad Sinus Cold’ and Was on ‘Every’ Over-the-Counter Medication at First Met Gala (Exclusive)

Ashley Park’s first Met Gala experience wasn’t exactly what she expected.

The Emily in Paris star, 33, who partnered with Baileys to launch the brand’s first non-dairy liqueur made with oat milk, tells PEOPLE that she was battling allergies the first time she attended the big event in 2022.

“I had a really bad sinus cold,” Park says. “So, I think I was on like every over-the-counter medication that you could be on. I was on like eight Advil like four times… and I sounded like this,” she says while dropping her voice low.

“I was like, ‘I don’t want people to think I’m sick because I’m not,’ ” she adds. “It’s just like allergies and stuff because you know… it’s that springtime of year where allergies are crazy.”

The actress, who channeled her inner Audrey Hepburn on the red carpet with a hot-pink corset and train and black-and-white ostrich-feather skirt designed by Prabal Gurung, said she vividly remembers what she felt when she got there.

“It was as if I was in a cloud just because it was a Met Gala. Also, I was numb,” Park jokes, adding that the experience was completely different from watching it on TV.

“I’ve watched it for years, this, like, big staircase. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Okay, I’m gonna go to this step and then turn this way, this step. It’s like two steps.’ And then afterwards I was like, ‘Wait, that’s it. That was all the pictures. Oh my God. Oh no, did I get any?,’ ” she says with a laugh.

When she got inside, the Joy Ride star said it was a whole different experience as well. She says it was “fun” getting to brush shoulders with some of the top figures in the entertainment industry who have come from different “walks of life.” And one place in particular, that she got to meet many of them: the Met Gala bathrooms.

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“The bathroom’s always really funny because you’re helping someone with their like latex gloves and their big balloon skirts, and people don’t fit in the stalls and can’t sit down,” she explains. “So, for me that feels like so wholesome because it’s this huge event that’s like fashionable and then everyone’s just like trying to help each other use the bathroom.”

Park returned for the 2023 Met Gala in a custom Michael Kors Collection mesh gown, which she paired with Michael Kors fingerless gloves, and jewels including Mikimoto pearls. Park recalls that appearance as another memorable event — mainly due to the chaos that was happening on the red carpet around her at the time.

“Jared Leto and his cat outfit, like, was a torment to me,” she jokes. “Like, I have no photos from that, from those stairs without Jared Leto revealing himself as a cat… I was like, ‘Please let me just get one good picture for [Michael Kors].’ ”

However, Park says that she still had a good time, and it has become a custom for her now to seek out her close friends, including Florence Pugh and her Emily in Paris costar Lily Collins, after entering the Met Gala doors.

“For me… it feels like I get to see my friends, you know?,” she says. “We’re all just like trying to find each other and… so, it’s like a celebration, and I love seeing everybody look so great.”

As for whether Park will be appearing at the 2025 Met Gala held on May 5, the actress reveals that she won’t be able to attend due to the filming schedule of Emily in Paris. However, that doesn’t mean that she won’t still be keeping an eye on the looks.

“I’ll definitely be like tuning in,” the actress says. “Whenever like me and Lily can’t go because we’re filming, we’re always discussing what we [looks we] saw and what we loved.”