Jack Whitehall says ‘many surprises’ coming at 2026 BRITs

The awards air this evening on ITV and will play host to various famous singers, both at the event and performing on stage.

For the first time, the BRIT Awards will be held at Manchester’s Co-op Live after nearly five decades in London.

While there are nine confirmed artists who are performing, more could yet appear at the event or on stage, with surprises confirmed to be coming.

Jack Whitehall says ‘many surprises’ coming at 2026 BRITs

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, earlier this week, Jack wrote: “My rehearsals for The Brits are done.

“It is insane how many surprises there are this year on top of all the amazing acts we have already announced.

“Only one more day of having to keep my gob shut!”

Among the rumours swirling are that Taylor Swift, who is up for International Artist of the Year and Best International Song with The Fate of Ophelia, may be at the event.

Showbiz correspondent Ross King spoke about the possibility of the American pop icon being at the event on an episode of ITV’s Lorraine recently.

He said: “The word is that she is in the country already, she’s here with her big entourage, they’re already heading up to Manchester, where the Brits will be for the first time.”

Host Jack Whitehall also discussed the possibility of Taylor Swift being at the show on Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby earlier this week.

He said: “Yeah, look, I’m not going to confirm if Taylor Swift is going to be there.

“That’s good journalism, I’m not falling into that trap.

“But yeah, chasing your own adventure and every scenario you can, but the reason why people love the BRITs is it is chaos and you cannot plan for everything and stuff does happen.”

Who is performing at the 2026 BRIT Awards?

The full list of this year’s confirmed BRIT Awards live performances is:

• Harry Styles
• Olivia Dean
• Wolf Alice
• EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI (HUNTR/X)
• Alex Warren
• Mark Ronson
• ROSALÍA
• sombr
• RAYE

Harry Styles will open the show in what are just weeks before he plays at the same arena for his ‘One Night Only’ show.

Another surprise that could happen is Sam Fender joining Olivia Dean on stage to perform their popular song Rein Me In.

Dean and Fender are among the most nominated for the event, with the former up for five awards and the latter up for four.

Three awards have already been confirmed before this year’s event, with Oasis’ Noel Gallagher named Songwriter of the Year, PinkPantheress winning Producer of the Year, and Mark Ronson winning the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

You can see the full list of nominations on the BRIT Awards website .

What time are the BRIT Awards on TV?

The 2026 BRIT Awards take place this evening, Saturday, February 28.

The event will be broadcast live from 8.15pm on ITV1 and ITVX, and is expected to finish at about 10.50pm

Who are you rooting for to win a BRIT award tonight? Let us know in the comments.