The biggest night in British music is almost upon us – and judging from this year’s guestlist, we reckon it’s going to be a pretty jam-packed one.

Between A-list nominees, incredible guest performers and the winners who’ve already been announced, it’s a fair bet that the always-chaotic Brits ceremony could deliver on one or two moments guaranteed to have us all talking the next day.

And so, with just hours to go until the fun begins, here’s your quick guide to the 2026 Brit Awards…

Since 2011, London’s O2 Arena has been the home of the Brit Awards, but this time around, organisers are doing things a little differently.

For the first time in Brits history, the ceremony is moving out of the capital to Manchester, where the newly-opened Co-Op Live arena will be the home of this year’s Brits action, as part of a new two-year deal.

The ceremony is due to take place on Saturday 28 February from around 8.15pm.

As always, the Brits will be shown on ITV1 – and the ceremony will be airing live on Saturday night, so fans can tune in to watch all the action as it happens.

The CEO of the BPI, the organisation behind the Brit Awards, announced last year: “The Brit Awards have helped to tell the story of British music in all its brilliant diversity, capturing some of its most memorable moments, and this groundbreaking move to Manchester will only add to its rich legacy.

“This exciting new chapter celebrates not only the city’s exceptional musical heritage and its status as a powerhouse of British creativity, but the great depth of artistic energy and potential that exists all across the UK.

“I feel sure it will fire the imagination of fans, artists and the wider music community alike, and we look forward to sharing the experience with them.”

Jack Whitehall is back on presenting duties once again.

This year’s Brits will mark Jack’s third consecutive year hosting, and sixth time overall.

During his tenure fronting the Brit Awards, the comic has become known for his irreverent style, although this hasn’t always sat well with the celebrities in attendance – or, for that matter, viewers watching from home.

While Jack will be hosting the main ceremony, Charley Marlowe and Tyler West will be presenting live red carpet coverage across the Brits’ social media channels before the event gets underway.

Album Of The Year nominees Olivia Dean and Wolf Alice will be performing during the ceremony, with Harry Styles and Raye also set to give fans a taste of their upcoming new albums.

As for international performers, Rosalía, Alex Warren and Sombr will all be taking to the stage, with a special pre-recorded number from KPop Demon Hunters singers Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami also forming part of the broadcast.

Meanwhile, Mark Ronson is expected to close the show after being honoured with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution To Music title.

According to The Sun, his performance is expected to feature guest appearances from artists he’s worked with over the years, including Lily Allen and Dua Lipa, though this remains unconfirmed for now.

When it comes to nominations, Olivia Dean and Lola Young are leading the way in 2026, with four each.

Interestingly, they’re also both fresh from wins at the Grammy, where Olivia picked up Best New Artist and Lola beat some huge names to pick up the Best Pop Solo Performance prize.

Besides those two, Sam Fender has four nominations to his name this year, following his victory at last year’s Mercury Prize, while Dave, Fred Again.., Lily Allen, Jim Legacy and Wolf Alice are all on three.

The top award of the night, Album Of The Year, is a five-way race between Dave, Lily Allen, Olivia Dean, Sam Fender and Wolf Alice, and this is one we could imagine going any number of ways.

Check out our round-up of all of this year’s Brit Awards nominees here.

This might seem like a strange question to be answering ahead of the ceremony, but actually, a number of winners have already been confirmed.

As well as Mark’s Outstanding Contribution title, Jacob Alon is the recipient of the Critics’ Choice Award, which recognises emerging talent, while PinkPantheress has become the first woman – and youngest person ever – to be named Producer Of The Year.

Noel Gallagher is also set to be named Songwriter Of The Year, in a somewhat controversial move given that he didn’t actually release any new music in 2025.

Emerald Fennell’s film version of Wuthering Heights is, to say the very least, not your grandma’s version of Emily Brontë’s gothic masterpiece.

Although many Brontë purists have been less than pleased with the way the movie has chopped and changed the iconic source novel, Emerald has spoken in defence of her adaptation on several occasions, insisting she was trying to make “something that was my response and interpretation to that book and to the feeling of it”.

In fact, that’s why she made the decision to show the film’s title in quotation marks and other promotional materials, including its title card.

But just how much of the original novel is left in the recent big-screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights?

Here are 11 major differences between the two…

The topic that generated the most discussion long before Wuthering Heights hit cinemas was around Heathcliff’s ethnicity and background.

As soon as Jacob Elordi was cast in the role, people criticised Emerald for “whitewashing” the character, who is described in the novel as a “dark-skinned gypsy” and a “little Lascar”, a term used to refer to sailors from India, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Earnshaw says he found Heathcliff at Liverpool docks, a location historically associated with the Transatlantic slave trade. Some scholars even believe that the author was using Heathcliff to comment on the Liverpool slave trade.

Academics have long felt that the ambiguity of Heathcliff’s ethnicity and mysterious family background adds to the story, particularly with regard to how he is treated by Cathy’s family.

Elsie Michie, a professor of English at Louisiana State University, told The New York Times that “the dynamics of this novel are about otherness in various ways, and that otherness is in Heathcliff”. By making Healthcliff and Cathy the same ethnicity, Emerald’s film relies on class differences to create a rift between the lovers.

Asked about removing the character’s ethnic background and casting a white actor to play him,

Emerald previously claimed: “Everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so you can only kind of ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.”

She also explained that, when casting Jacob, she was less concerned with the text and more with her own memories of reading the book.

″[He] looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read,” she added during an earlier interview.

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights very specifically focuses on the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff, but fans of the Gothic novel will know this is only one part of a bigger story.

Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is less a romance and more a supernatural warning about intergenerational trauma. Emerald has chosen not to include these elements, instead turning Cathy and Heathcliff into tragic lovers frolicking on the moors.

This latest adaptation covers only the first half of the book, ending the story just after Cathy’s death. In the latter half of the novel, a bereft Heathcliff dedicates his life to torturing those around him, including Cathy’s daughter, and the son he and Isabella later have.

“The thing for me is that you can’t adapt a book as dense and complicated and difficult as this book,” Emerald told Fandango in January regarding the charges.

Emerald’s film is far from the first adaptation of Wuthering Heights to omit the second part of the novel, which scholars believe completely reframes the story’s message.

“You lose that sense of a cycle of violence,” said the curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Murray Tremellen, to Time when explaining why failing to adapt the second part of the book waters down the story.

Eliminating the second generation of Lintons and Earnshaws and Heathcliff’s treatment of them from the story “allows you to ignore that who he is persecuting are the innocent,” lecturer Sam Hirst told Time.

“You can’t think of it as a love story if you actually honestly portray that part of the story,” because “what his love actually looks like is this horrifying toxic nightmare of a thing,” Hirst added.

Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Wuthering Heights fundamentally alters the novel’s structure, shifting the point of view from Lockwood and Nelly to a more linear narrative.

The book is told through second-hand accounts, after Mr Lockwood moves into Thrushcross Grange and wants to learn more about the mysterious Heathcliff who lives nearby. He speaks to Nelly, who recounts the story of Heathcliff’s romance with Cathy and the impact it has had on the two households.

Mr Lockwood does not appear in the recent film at all, removing the outsider’s perspective that the book gives readers.

Emerald even joked to BuzzFeed: “Let’s be honest, no one misses him.”

Because Emerald ends her film just after Cathy’s death, the book’s supernatural elements are also removed from the newest spin on Wuthering Heights.

In the novel’s opening chapters, before Nelly starts telling the story, a ghostly apparition of Cathy appears to Lockwood, demanding to be let in through the window.

Heathcliff claims to be haunted throughout Brontë’s novel, with villagers claiming at the end that they see him and Cathy’s ghost on the moor together.

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s casting as Cathy and Heathcliff initially raised eyebrows because both are almost double the age of their characters in the book.

In the novel, Cathy is six when she meets Heathcliff, while in the film, the younger versions of the characters are played by teenagers Charlotte Mellington and Owen Cooper.

As the characters grow, 34-year-old Margot takes over as Cathy, with 27-year-old Jacob portraying the adult Heathcliff.

In the book, meanwhile, Cathy is 12 when she meets Edgar, 17 when she weds him and 18 when she dies.

Although Heathcliff’s backstory and age are more mysterious, it’s generally accepted that he is slightly older than Cathy.

The book suggests that he leaves Cathy and Wuthering Heights aged 16 and returns three years later, rather than the five described in the film.

It’s worth pointing out that the film does address the aging up of the characters, with Nelly referring to Cathy as a “spinster” in one scene.

In the Emerald Fennell film, it’s established early on that Cathy’s brother (also called Heathcliff) is dead, and that she has no other siblings. By contrast, in the book, Cathy has a malicious and violent older brother, Hindley Earnshaw.

Hindley is one of the main antagonists of the novel, abusing Heathcliff and exploiting him after their father’s death. It’s often considered that this abuse is what turns Heathcliff into a toxic, manipulative adult.

When Mr Earnshaw dies, Hindley becomes the master of the household, forcing Heathcliff into servitude. In the latter half of the book, Heathcliff gets revenge by abusing Hindley’s son and forcing him to become his servant.

Emerald told BuzzFeed that she saw Hindley as little more than a “narrative tool” that Brontë “doesn’t really extend any grace to”, which she found difficult to incorporate into her script.

“You can have an outright villain in a novel. You can have somebody who,

like, tries to throw a baby off a banister,” she said. “But for me, I’m always looking for the kind of tension in characters where you do have sympathy, always, no matter how reprehensible they are.”

Martin Clunes plays Cathy’s father, Mr Earnshaw, as an alcoholic brute, though his character is much kinder in Brontë’s source material.

In the novel, he has goodwill for Heathcliff, arguably favouring him above his own children. Some fans of the book have gone as far as speculating that this close bond is intended to suggest that Heathcliff is his illegitimate son.

In Emerald Fennell’s film, Mr Earnshaw and Hindley have been merged together, the result being “a sort of father character who was at once loving, charismatic, generous, and on the other side, cruel, malevolent, capricious”.

The director told BuzzFeed: “It was about kind of looking at where Cathy and Heathcliff have kind of what they’ve learned, what behaviour they’ve learned, how they’ve learned to manage things, how they’ve survived up to a point.”

Compared to the original novel, Emerald’s take on the story depicts Hong Chau’s Nelly as less of a nurse or housekeeper, and more of a companion figure for Cathy.

As one of the narrators in the book, she clearly has disdain for Heathcliff, but in the film, her role is much more opportunistic. In the absence of Hindley, Nelly becomes something of a villain in Cathy’s life – although some Brontë fans would suggest Nelly has always been a low-key “bad guy”.

In the big-screen adaptation, Nelly encourages Cathy to accept Edgar’s marriage proposal, burns Heathcliff’s letters to her (in the book, she burns the correspondence between Heathcliff’s son and Cathy’s daughter instead) and ignores Cathy’s health complications, dismissing them as a childish tantrum.

When Cathy takes to her bed in grief over Heathcliff’s wedding to Isabella, Nelly also ignores the state of her health, which ultimately leads to the sepsis that causes Cathy’s death.

During her BuzzFeed interview, Emerald explained that she was inspired to change Nelly’s character by scholars who believed Nelly was the true villain of Wuthering Heights.

“I think we all can relate to that person,” she claimed. “When you’re the sensible one and you’re the one who can see that something is a terrible idea, and you’re the one, perhaps in Nelly’s case, who doesn’t have as much power to affect the things around her.”

She added: “I get why she does the things she does. Because looking at what’s happened, what is happening and then happens afterwards.”

While Nelly might be the villain of the story, it was important to the filmmaker that Hong’s character be given her “moment of grace at the end” where she realises that her dismissal of Cathy’s feelings ultimately contributed to her death.

In Brontë’s work, Cathy’s husband Edgar Linton is the biological brother of Isabella (played by Alison Oliver), but in the film she is introduced as his “ward”, an orphaned minor who is placed under his guardianship.

The Linton parents are also nowhere to be seen in the new movie, despite appearing in the novel, with Edgar acting as the master of Thrushcross Grange.

Crucially, Emerald’s film also removes the romance from Edgar and Cathy’s relationship. While in both the book and movie, Cathy is motivated by class and money, the film removes any notion that she is in love with the man she married.

The version of Isabella we see in Emerald Fennell’s film is almost unrecognisable compared to her literary counterpart.

While she has always been portrayed as a delicate and immature character, Emerald brings out the more quirky aspects of Isabella in the latest adaptation.

Both the book and film iterations of Isabella are obsessed with Heathcliff, but in the book, she is less aware that she’s being manipulated by him. Film Isabella, on the other hand, is much more calculating, and appears aware that Heathcliff is using her to make Cathy jealous.

In the novel, she genuinely loves Heathcliff and regrets their union when he starts abusing her – even going as far as killing her dog – resulting in her trying to flee their home when pregnant with their son.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jacob claimed that the provocative scene in the movie, in which Isabella is depicted on all fours in a dog collar taking commands from her husband was the director’s way of “taking the killing of the dog and these really dark parts of the novel and putting them into this scene”.

In the same interview, Emerald said she felt it was important to acknowledge that Isabella winked at Nelly to indicate consent.

The filmmaker pointed out that the dialogue in this sequence is almost the same as the novel.

She said: “That scene in the book, I think that’s the reason why [Wuthering Heights] was eviscerated when it came out because I think it was just so shocking to people. Because there’s so much in what happens there that is… very, very complicated. Very transgressive – even for now, it’s shocking.

“And, obviously, I visually added some things to that scene, but [the dialogue] is almost all Brontë.”

Emerald is definitely not a director who shies away from sex or nudity. While Wuthering Heights is, in many ways, tamer than Saltburn, her adaptation was still much racier than the source material.

Brontë’s book portrays Cathy and Heathcliff as having a deeply romantic – albeit tortured – relationship, but they only kiss once in the novel, and it’s never explicitly stated that they have sex.

In the movie, though, there is a whole montage dedicated to the couple’s sex life.

“Wuthering Heights is an extremely sexy book,” Emerald said during a recent appearance on the podcast Happy Sad Confused. “It’s so sexy. Lots of people argue about that, lots of people feel that it is not a sexy book at all. I believe it is a very sexy book, I felt it was a very sexy book.

“But, you know, nothing [sexy] happens [in the book]. So that’s the other side of things. But, you know, it’s interesting, the perception of something, and the thing itself, are so different.”

Jacob has also insisted the movie’s sex scenes were “entirely in the spirit of the novel.”

“Any image that comes from Emerald’s head is inspired by that depravity and love and obsession,” the Euphoria actor told USA Today. “They’re all in the language of what Brontë was driving at with this book, so it was never really a shock or a reach.”

One of the biggest artistic liberties Emerald Fennell takes with her adaptation is its ending.

In the novel, Cathy dies shortly after giving birth to her daughter (also called Cathy), Emerald’s film shows the character dying of sepsis after miscarrying.

The director told Entertainment Tonight that she made this change because she wanted to expand the circular nature of the text.

“It begins where it ends and ends where it begins. And that’s the thing about love, and it’s the thing about the book, right?” she said. “It’s that it’s forever and it’s cyclical, and so there’s no stop – even when there’s a terrible, sad, tragic stop, it’s not really a stop – because that’s what the book feels so much about. It’s about the depths of human feeling and how it exists in a profound way, not just a physical one.”

Unlike in the book, Heathcliff does not visit Cathy before her death in the film, but in a fever-induced state, she imagines his younger self speaking to her.

Emerald added that in Bronte’s novel there are “about three different meetings and three different speeches”, so her rewritten version of events was her way of “consolidating that”.

“And so what I did was I brought a lot of the love forward, and a lot of those really important conversations forward, to give them some time so that it didn’t just happen at the end,” she offered.

Wuthering Heights is in cinemas now.

The Brit Awards are widely renowned as being one of the most chaotic awards shows going – thanks to the on-stage blunders, political statements and jaw-dropping celebrity feuds that have played out during the ceremony over the last 40 years.

In the run-up to this year’s event, we’ve rounded up the good, the bad and, indeed, the ugly for you, and hand-picked 33 of the most memorable moments to ever take place at the Brit Awards.

All we can say now is, roll on Saturday’s ceremony in Manchester…

Best British Album is the category every UK artist wants to win at the Brits, so it’s understandable that Adele would want to soak up the moment when 21 was given the accolade.

Sadly for host James Corden, it looked as though her acceptance speech was going to overrun into Blur’s performance back in 2012, so he clumsily stepped in to try and wrap things up.

As James tried to hurry her along, the frustrated singer wound up flipping the bird towards the cameras before leaving the stage.

Michael Jackson performed at the Brits just once in his lifetime, and given what happened in 1996, it’s hardly a surprise he never came back.

While the singer was performing Earth Song, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker made his way onto the stage, walking around wiggling his bum and cheekily lifting his top, before being removed by security. He later claimed he’d been upset by the pop icon’s choice to make himself appear Christ-like during the performance.

After the show, Jarvis was arrested – and subsequently released without charge – after being accused of hurting three of the children on stage. Drama!

It’s now been more than 30 years since this happened, and we’re still puzzled as to exactly who thought that teaming up two completely unrelated non-presenters to front one of Britain’s biggest live TV events was a good idea.

The excruciating evening was dogged with guest mix-ups, autocue fails and jokes that went down like lead balloons. So all in all, not a great night. That being said, we’re still talking about it almost 40 years later, which has got to count for something, right?

They’d already been swapping endless insults in the press for ages, but things between Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher came to a head at the Brits in 2000.

Our favourite part of this video is right at the end, when the late Caroline Aherne muses that her “money would be on Liam”…

Speaking of Caroline Aherne, she was on hand to present Best British Single as her Mrs Merton alter-ego back in 1997, and delivered a truly iconic one-liner.

After ribbing presenter Ben Elton, she then declared: “Charlie, wherever you are, can you make yourself known? They’re all asking for you backstage. In the toilets, it’s Charlie, Charlie, Charlie… you’d think they’d have enough to do with being pop stars.”

“So that’s lovely,” she added. Brilliant stuff.

In a move that seems more strange with every year that passes, David Bowie chose the then-leader of the opposition Tony Blair to welcome him to the stage, when he was awarded the Outstanding Contribution title in 1996.

Largely inspired by the success of The Darkness, Cat Deeley opened the Brits in 2004 with a bold declaration about the return of rock music and how Brits bosses had lifted the alcohol ban in place for the previous few years (hence the champagne bottle).

However, the night was hardly a rock-heavy occasion, with performers on the night including 50 Cent, Missy Elliott and… Dido.

After 10 years in the industry, Little Mix finally bagged their first win in the Best British Group category, becoming the first ever girl group to achieve the accolade.

Celebrating their win, the band – two of whom were pregnant at the time – gave a shout-out to the groups who paved the way for them, including the Spice Girls, All Saints and Girls Aloud. They also paid tribute to former bandmate Jesy Nelson, who had quit Little Mix six months earlier.

We all know this moment really belonged to the late, great Sarah Harding, who summed up Girls Aloud fans everywhere’s feelings when she declared: “It’s about time!”

At the 2015 Brits, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West took the opportunity to debut a new track, All Day.

Unfortunately for viewers at home, most of it was muted completely by ITV’s censors due to Ye’s repeated use of the N-word (though the censorship didn’t stop some viewers from complaining regardless).

It’s actually become something of an unofficial Brits tradition for the sound to mysteriously cut out every year whenever Lewis Capaldi has something to say on stage.

Accepting his first ever Brit with a Red Stripe in his hand in 2020, censors had to act fast in the middle of Lewis’ acceptance speech, when he declared: “Thank you very fucking much.”

The following year, Lewis returned to the Brits, only for the exact same thing to end up happening.

The Brits ceremony in 2025 wound up sparking almost 1000 complaints to the TV watchdog Ofcom, down to appearances by two of the night’s star guests, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

Sabrina kicked the evening off with a very racy medley of songs from her Short N’ Sweet, culminating in her getting up close and personal with a dancer dressed as a royal guard, while Charli accepted five awards over the course of the night while sporting a sheer outfit with her nipples visible underneath.

During one of her acceptance speeches, the Grammy winner claimed that the higher-ups at ITV had already been “complaining about my nipples”, commenting: “I feel like we’re in the era of free the nipple though, right?”

The legend goes that Geri Halliwell and her sister made her infamous Union Jack dress with a tea-towel, adding a peace sign on the back so as not to offend anyone.

Years later, the iconic garment went on to sell for a record-breaking £41,320 at an auction.

Let’s be honest, sometimes red carpet coverage of the Brit Awards can verge on being a little dry. More often than not, the stars are on their best behaviour, saving their more raucous antics for the infamous after-parties.

So we were glad when Lizzo made her Brits debut in 2019 (right before her mainstream breakthrough), chatting candidly backstage to Marvin Humes, which ended in the truly iconic line: “From his lips to my p***y.”

You can always rely on Lizzo to bring the party.

Neither she nor Harry Styles even took home awards in 2020, but they were still the true winners on the night thanks to this chaotic – and tequila-assisted – scene.

It’s hard to choose a favourite moment of this compilation, just watch and enjoy.

By the end of the 2018 ceremony, the night already belonged to Stormzy, who had picked up Best British Male as well as the top award of the night, Best British Album.

It was fitting, then, that he should also close the show, putting on an elaborate performance of Blinded By Your Grace, pt. 2. It was what came next that grabbed headlines, though, as he launched into a freestyle rap calling out Theresa May’s government for their reaction to the Grenfell tragedy, as well as highlighting injustice and institutional racism.

As if that wasn’t enough, off came the t-shirt and on came the rain, for an energetic run of Big For Your Boots. Incredible stuff, which even won praise from then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

After her second Best British Female win in 2021 – the first Brits to take place after the pandemic – Dua Lipa announced she’d be sharing her win with nurse Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, the emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London.

Turning her attention to the many frontline workers in attendance on the night, Dua said: “It’s all very good to clap for them but we need to pay them.

“I think what we should do is we should all give a massive, massive round of applause and give Boris [Johnson, who was then prime minister] a message that we all support a fair pay rise for our front line.”

Admittedly, Joss Stone had been off the scene for a little while by the time she hit the stage to present Best British Male at the 2007 Brits, but last time we checked, she was from Devon, not the East Coast of America?

The singer created a stir not just for her accent, but also her “tribute” to Robbie Williams, who she’d performed with years earlier, as well as her joke about Russell Brand’s past rehab stint.

She’d been (surprisingly) on her best behaviour all night, but Sharon Osbourne lost her patience when Vic Reeves struggled with the autocue while presenting the biggest award of the night.

Despite being blasted as a “pisshead” and a “drunk bastard”, Vic later insisted he hadn’t been drinking.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Arctic Monkeys went on to hit out at the Brits school in their acceptance speech immediately afterwards, though this was cut from the final broadcast.

Your dad’s favourite stand-up comedian Peter Kay might seem like an unlikely choice to host the Brits, but he actually wound up being responsible for one of the ceremony’s most rock ‘n’ roll moments of the 21st century.

When Liam Gallagher defiantly threw his Brit into the crowd – having already snubbed brother Noel in his acceptance speech – the Phoenix Nights star put him down with a simple “what a knobhead”.

Not the wittiest of lines, admittedly, but effective all the same.

Proving that politics and pop aren’t always the best companions, when then Labour Cabinet Minister attended the 1998 bash, Tubthumping rock band Chumbawamba thought they’d let him know exactly how they felt about him getting an invite by throwing a bucket of iced water over the MP.

Despite the fact the record label apologised, the band were unrepentant, saying: “If John Prescott has the nerve to turn up at events like the Brit Awards in a vain attempt to make Labour seem cool and trendy, then he deserves all we can throw at him.”

When Arctic Monkeys won Best Album in 2014, frontman Alex Turner left us all baffled with his odd “that rock and roll, eh?” acceptable speech.

This ended in him telling Brits bosses, “invoice me for the microphone,” before dropping it on the floor and walking off.

First off, underdogs Belle and Sebastian had released a total of three albums when they were announced as the winners of Best British Newcomer in 1999, beating actual newcomers Steps, who had been heavily tipped for the award.

Their confusing victory led the national press to accuse them of rigging the vote in their favour by encouraging university students to vote online (which was still a fairly radical idea in 1999), though they insisted at the time this was not the case.

That same year Robbie took on Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood was presenting Best Soundtrack when suddenly he was interrupted by confused DJ (and future Celebrity Big Brother walker) Brandon Block, who had been jokingly informed by his friends that he’d won an award.

After Ronnie called him a “c***” for interrupting, the two squared up, drinks were thrown and security were called.

It was all super awks, to be honest.

The Best British Artist category was introduced in 2022, replacing the gendered Best British Male and Best British Female categories in a move towards inclusivity.

While its inaugural outing saw Adele taking home the award, its second year raised eyebrows after not a single woman was nominated.

Brits organisers later issued a statement saying: “We acknowledge and share in the disappointment that, unlike last year, no women are represented in the [Artist Of The Year] shortlist.

“There may be a number of reasons for this, but a key factor is that, unfortunately, there were relatively few commercially successful releases by women in 2022 compared to those by men, which means that, of the 71 eligible artists on the longlist, only 12 (17%) are women.

“We recognise this points to wider issues around the representation of women in music that must also be addressed.”

Despite the model’s sudden appearance – and her eye-catching outfit – the boys barely broke a sweat. Such pros.

In 2013, the Brits faced a backlash for the introduction of the Global Success award, which some suggested was just a ploy to give One Direction a prize on the night.

A year later, they won in the same category for a second time, though most of their acceptance speech was conducted as a four-piece, as Harry Styles was preoccupied in the lavatory at the time.

After being swung around by Alexander McQueen, Best International Female winner Björk told the crowd: “I am… grate…ful… grape… fruit.”

After Erasure won Best British Group, frontman Andy Bell kissed presenter Boy George on the cheek, a subtle move by today’s standards, but one that he claimed was a deliberate action against Section 28, which had been introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government the previous year.

In the 2010s, the Brit Awards played it safe with its hosts, which ranged from James Corden to Ant and Dec, finally ending up with Dermot O’Leary and Emma Willis.

We’ll admit we didn’t exactly have high hopes when Jack Whitehall was announced, but after a decade of chumminess, it was so refreshing to have a host who would poke fun at the famous nominees, while successfully managing not to cross the line into nastiness.

Bey and Jay weren’t even at the Brits in 2019, but they still managed to steal the show completely with this video message, in which they made a subtle show of solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex.

After being accidentally pulled down some steps due to a cape-related wardrobe malfunction, the whole nation held its collective breath as Madonna dusted herself off and, in the words of her song Living For Love, “picked up my crown, put it back on my head” and “carried on”.

The 2026 Brit Awards will take place on Saturday 28 February at 8.15pm on ITV1.

Dearest Reader… things have changed for the cast of Bridgerton since the racy Netflix drama debuted in 2020.

When the show premiered during the global pandemic and national lockdown, few could have predicted what an worldwide phenomenon the series was about to become.

Since the first season turned the cast into global household names, many have become Hollywood royalty after appearing in the romantic drama, while others have become mainstays in the television world.

Here is what some of the stars of Bridgerton have been up to since the show debuted …

Although Jonathan Bailey was already an award-winning star of stage and screen for more than two decades when he made his debut as Anthony Bridgerton, the Regency romance catapulted the actor to international fame.

Since appearing on the show, he won a Critics’ Choice Award for his role in the historical miniseries Fellow Travelers and an Actors Award (then still known as a SAG Award) for his work in the big screen adaptation of Wicked.

Last year, he was named the top grossing actor of 2025 thanks to his performances as Dr Henry Loomis in Jurassic World Rebirth and Fieryo in Wicked: For Good. He was also named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Of The Year, being the first openly gay man to earn this title.

Despite his big screen stardom, Jonathan has not foregone his love for the stage, either. In 2022, he appeared in the Mike Bartlett play, Cock and last year, he took on the role of Richard III.

You can next see him alongside his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande in a West End revival of Sunday In The Park With George.

When Bridgerton first aired, Nicola Coughlan was one of the better-known faces to British audiences thanks to her role as Claire in Derry Girls. Since her first season as Penelope, she has taken on a starring role in Channel 4’s dark comedy Big Mood and played Joy in the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas special, alongside Ncuti Gatwa.

On the big screen, she had a minor role in the Barbie film, playing Diplomat Barbie, and has voice roles in the animated film Goat and the upcoming adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree.

Nicola is also currently appearing in a new stage adaptation of The Playboy Of The Western World.

Outside of her work, Nicola is a passionate advocate for a number of humanitarian causes. In 2024, Nicola helped raise £1.5 million for the children of Palestine, and last year, she helped raise more than £100K for the trans and gender non-conforming charity Not A Phase.

Despite her illustrious acting career, Nicola’s proudest moment might just have been when she fulfilled her dream of being a judge on season three of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

While his movie career hasn’t quite reached the heights some might have predicted just yet, he has continued to make a name for himself in Hollywood.

After leaving the show, he had a supporting role in the Netflix action thriller The Gray Man, appeared in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and co-starred with Cate Blanchett in last year’s critically praised Black Bag. You can next see him alongside Halle Bailey in rom-com You, Me & Tuscany.

He’s also one of many names who’ve been rumoured to be in the running to play 007 in the next James Bond film.

After Regé-Jean left Bridgerton, his on-screen love interest Phoebe Dynevor stayed on the show in a supporting role.

Luckily, this has given her ample time to build a successful film career away from the Ton.

In recent history, she has appeared in the 2023 erotic thriller Fair Play, the 2025 spy movie Inheritance and has also shared the screen with Diane Lane in the dystopian movie Anniversary.

Phoebe has a busy slate ahead of her with numerous films currently in post-production, too, most notably a supernatural romantic drama written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan with Nicholas Sparks.

Simone Ashley plays Anthony’s wife Kate in the Regency drama, joining the show in its second season.

Having already starred in Sex Education, Bridgerton boosted her profile even further, leading to roles in Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid remake as one of Ariel’s sisters, and a leading performance in the rom-com Picture This, alongside Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

Simone also appeared in the Oscar-nominated F1, although her character was controversially cut out of the film, only appearing in one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

After debuting in Bridgerton, Simone has launched her own production company, Good Catch Entertainment, to tackle inequalities in the industry.

“The more you work in this industry, you see the holes, you see what shouldn’t be happening,” she told in Vogue in 2022. “I want to create sets where everyone feels equal. And I don’t want to be put in a certain box. I want to be in the driver’s seat.”

She’s next appearing in The Devil Wears Prada sequel, which will be released in May this year.

You’ll best know Adjoa Andoh for playing Lady Danbury, but the British actor has had a long and illustrious career.

Besides appearing in Bridgerton, she played Nenneke in two episodes of the fantasy The Witcher and, more recently, has been lending her voice to animated characters, including the grandmother in The Smeds And The Smoos, the narrator of Mog’s Christmas and the judge in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

In 2024, Adjoa played Lady Heather Nancarrow in Alibi crime drama The Red King.

She was also made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours in June 2025, for her services to drama.

Queen Charlotte herself, Golda Rosheuvel, has been a mainstay of stage and screen since the 1990s.

After debuting in her regal rule, Golda appeared in Dune as the imperial housekeeper Shadout Mapes, and had a supporting role in the rom-com This Time Next Year alongside Emily In Paris star Lucien Laviscount.

Recently, Golda appeared in the Doctor Who episode Space Babies and you can next see her in the horror film Eye For An Eye and with Nick Frost in the comedy Grow.

Luke Thompson found fame playing Benedict in Bridgerton, finally taking centre stage in the most recent run of episodes after three seasons in a supporting role.

Outside the Ton, he has continued to have success on stage, appearing in A Little Life and, more recently, in the Royal Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost.

He also played a lead in another Netflix historical drama, Transatlantic, in 2023.

You can next see him co-starring with Andrew Scott in Elsinore, a biopic of Chariots of Fire actor Ian Charleston, who was one of the first public figures to die of AIDS in the UK.

Colin Bridgerton was Luke Newton’s biggest role to date when he first began appearing in the Netflix period drama.

In 2023, he appeared in the West End in The Shape Of Things, and last year in off-Broadway’s House Of McQueen, playing the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

His next role is in White Mars, a science fiction thriller, alongside Lucy Hale.

Claudia Jessie has had a successful career outside of her role as Eloise Bridgerton.

She appeared in the miniseries Bali 2002 and in Jack Thorne’s 2025 Netflix drama Toxic Town, playing a woman whose child is born with birth defects due to toxic waste contamination.

Her next role will be in the Channel 4 drama, Up To No Good, which also stars Glenn Close and Penelope Wilton.

Florence plays Hyacinth in Bridgerton, though you may know her from her many viral TikTok videos where she shares behind-the-scenes moments from the Netflix series.

She has also played a young version of Teresa Palmer’s character Alison in last year’s BBC drama, Mix Tape, and will make her feature film debut in the upcoming Queen At Sea, which stars Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay.

Ruby Stokes originally appeared as Francesca Bridgerton in the first two seasons of Bridgerton before leaving due to scheduling conflicts with Lockwood & Co.

Francesca was actually supposed to have a bigger role in season two, but left after filming just three episodes due to her busy schedule on Lockwood & Co.

“I love Francesca, but we lost her midway through season two,” executive producer Chris Van Dusen told TVLine following the season two premiere. “After exhausting all other options, she unfortunately had to come out due to reasons beyond our control.”

Leaving the show mid-series hasn’t put a dampener on Ruby’s career, though.

Although supernatural Netflix show Lockwood & Co. was eventually cancelled after one series, she went to appear in the horror drama The Burning Girls with Samantha Morton and as Jenna Coleman’s daughter in BBC hit The Jetty.

More recently, she had a minor role in Jay Kelly with George Clooney, and will next be seen in the Bella Ramsey comedy Sunny Dancer.

Hannah Dodd took over the role of Francesca from Ruby Stokes in the third season of Bridgerton.

The year after her casting was announced, she appeared in Paramount+ miniseries The Road Trip alongside David Jonsson and Laurie Davidson.

She recently made her West End debut in Cabaret, playing Sally Bowles to Rob Madge’s Emcee in 2025.

Prolific actress Lorraine Ashbourne plays housekeeper Mrs. Varley, in Bridgerton, but this is just one of her many recent TV roles.

Over the last few years, she has played Alma’s eccentric grandma in Alma’s Not Normal, Daphne Sparrow in Sherwood, and appeared in four episodes of I Hate Suzie as Billie Piper’s on-screen mother.

Since then, she also reprised her role in the ITV drama After The Flood and starred in Sally Wainwright’s star-studded comedy-drama Riot Women.

Bessie has played Prudence since the very first season of Bridgerton.

Since the show’s debut, she has appeared in two episodes of I Hate Suzie as lawyer Poppy Hunter, played the real-life Carole Findlater in ITV crime drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story and most recently starred as socialite Nancy Mitford in a Britbox historical drama Outrageous, which followed the scandals of the Mitford sisters.

Lady Violet Bridgerton has been a mainstay of Bridgerton since the very first series.

The year after Bridgerton debuted, she reprised her role as the title character’s birth mother, Carly Beaker, in the CBBC show My Mum Tracy Beaker.

Last year, Ruth also appeared in Martin Campbell’s action flick Cleaner alongside Daisy Ridley as Superintendent Claire Hume.

Polly Walker, who plays Featherington matriarch Portia, also appeared as Margaret “Peggy” Sykes in Pennyworth in 2022, a prequel series about Batman’s butler Alfred Pennyworth.

In 2024, she starred in Dune: Prophecy as Sonya Harkonnen, and a year later had a role in the Mark Gatiss-penned crime TV show Bookish.

Dominic appeared in seasons two and three as Cressida’s father, Lord Cowper.

Following his work in Bridgerton, the actor has had minor roles in Wonka and in Ridley Scott’s historical epic, Napoleon.

His latest TV role was in 2024’s The Jetty, where he played a suspect in the crime drama.

Charithra played Kate’s younger sister, Edwina, in series two of Bridgerton. After her season two appearance in the Netflix drama, her career has gone from strength to strength.

In 2023, she had the lead role in British teen rom-com How To Date Billy Walsh and played the flight attendant in Josh Hartnett’s action film Fight Or Flight. Last Christmas, she had a role in Christmas Karma, a retelling of A Christmas Carol.

On TV, she has played Young Francesca in Dune: Prophecy, and you can next see her in the Netflix adaptation of One Piece, where she will play Miss Wednesday.

In addition to her work, she went viral last summer when everyone watching Wimbledon wanted to know who the “gorgeous” woman sitting behind Andrew Garfield was.

Sabrina starred in five episodes of Bridgerton’s first series as opera singer Siena Rosso.

The year after the show streamed on Netflix, she played Mariette Larkin in the ITV reboot of The Larkins with Bradley Walsh, but quit the show after just one series.

In 2025, she played John Simm’s Gray’s girlfriend in family drama I, Jack Wright, which aired on Alibi.

Shelley Conn played Kate’s mother, Lady Mary Sharma, in season two of the period drama.

After appearing in the series, she appeared as Beelzebub in Good Omens alongside David Tennant and Michael Sheen, and also had a lead role in The Boys spin-off Gen V as behavioural scientist Indira Shetty.

All episodes of Bridgerton season four are now streaming on Netflix.

Across the last four decades, the Brit Awards have been home to some seriously show-stopped performances that have had the whole world talking the next day.

In addition to all of the outrageous moments and attention-grabbing blunders that have become synonymous with the annual Brits broadcast, the awards show has repeatedly given artists a chance to create a true water-cooler moment by really nailing a performance.

The Brits are set to return on Saturday 28 February, with the ceremony taking place in Manchester for the first time ever, and performers on the line-up including Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice and Rosalía, as well as Mark Ronson, in honour of his Outstanding Contribution prize.

With more than 40 years’ worth of memorable on-stage moments to pick from, here’s a timeline of all the performances that have truly stood the test of time, starting with some classics and leading right up to the present day…

You didn’t know Elton John was responsible for what was arguably the birth of the “lip sync for your life”, did you?

Yes, as well as hosting the Brit Awards together in 1994 (something we’d argue people forget about all too often) the duo also lip-synced the house down to a disco-tastic mix of Sir Elton and Kiki Dee’s famous duet. It’s a comfort to know, if nothing else, that RuPaul has been rocking the exact same moves for the last 30 years.

For their first ever Brit Awards performance, Take That paid homage to the OG British boyband.

At this point Take That were very much still on the come-up, and threw it right back to the swinging 60s, performing three of The Beatles’ early hits while dressed in replicas of the Fab Four’s iconic blue suits.

Take That star Robbie Williams would go on to become the undisputed King Of The Brits, racking up more wins than any other artist in history (although Adele is now hot on his heels).

Yes, you might think you’ve already seen this Spice Girls footage a million times over, but when was the last time you sat down and properly watched it?

Do it now – we promise it’s even better than you remember, and there’s a lot more to love than just that iconic Union Jack dress.

The indisputable king of the Brit Awards, Robbie Williams has a fair few impressive performances under his belt from over the decades.

For his debut as a solo artist, he roped in a musical legend to help him really make an impression, performing a string of tunes with Sir Tom Jones.

What 90s disco was complete without this one, eh?

Next time someone tries to tell you that Geri couldn’t cut it as a solo artist, you show them this video.

As if she hadn’t commanded enough attention when she was still in the Spice Girls, Geri made sure all eyes were on her with her debut solo Brits performance.

Emerging from between a giant pair of legs, she performed this Girl Power anthem, surrounded by oiled-up male dancers and eventually tearing open her top, telling “all the ladies” in the crowd: “Let’s see your boobs!”

Her performance also totally overshadowed her former Spice Girls bandmates, who collected an Outstanding Contribution award later that evening as a four-piece, before delivering a medley performance of their own.

Eminem made one of the most memorable entrances in Brit Awards history when he took to the stage in denim overalls and a hockey mask, all while brandishing a chainsaw.

A slightly terrifying (alhough obviously iconic) Brits memory.

Of course, the most iconic Brits entrance has to go to a certain Ms Minogue, who kicked off this rendition of her chart-topping hit Can’t Get You Out Of My Head by literally ejecting herself from an oversized CD player.

As if this medley of Justin Timberlake’s biggest hits wasn’t pop perfection already, out strutted Kylie Minogue to cap things off with a version of Blondie’s Rapture, providing the Brit Awards with one of its most memorable collaborations ever.

Talk about chucking everything and the kitchen sink into a performance, eh?

Scissor Sisters kicked off the show in 2005 with a rendition of Take Your Mama that involved Jim Henson flamingos, leather lederhosen and, naturally, a singing barn.

While still fairly early in the Back To Black era, plenty of us were familiar with Amy Winehouse by the time she appeared on stage at the 2007 Brits (though it often wasn’t for her music).

This performance allowed her to remind everyone why she was famous in the first place, even managing to make that vast Brit Awards stage feel like an intimate lounge performance.

Yes, it was technically Mark Ronson’s moment – but let’s be honest, it was really all about Amy, wasn’t it?

Reports in the press prior to the Brits had suggested that, due to problems in her tumultuous personal life, the music legend may not have been able to perform on the night. However, she managed to shut up her detractors by turning it out alongside her friend and producer.

Keep an eye on that Adele, too. We just might be seeing a bit more of her later on.

It’s been over a decade and we’re still absolutely wowed by this performance. Fun fact: this took place on Rihanna’s 20th (20th!!) birthday.

Fortunately, Nadine remembered her passport this time…

So often, acts use their Outstanding Contribution prize as a way to lazily perform their best-loved tracks, plug a new greatest hits collection and then take themselves off home for the night.

Not Pet Shop Boys, though, who provided a full multimedia experience for their performance, whizzing through their decades’ worth of hits and even welcoming a little-known singer named Lady Gaga to fill in for Dusty Springfield.

Interesting choice of wig from Chris Lowe, too.

And speaking of Lady Gaga and interesting wigs…

One year she’s singing backing vocals for Pet Shop Boys, and the next she’s the biggest star in the world. What a difference 12 months makes.

This performance, where Gaga paid her respects to fashion designer Alexander McQueen, divided opinion, with some loving the fact she’d decided to think outside the box, and others hoping for something a little more traditional.

Sidenote: We can’t believe Gaga has still only ever performed solo at the Brits this one time.

Given this performance came just days after the breakdown of her marriage to Ashley Cole, Cheryl would have been forgiven if her Brits appearance wasn’t exactly her best work. But frankly, she slayed.

From the moment she jumped onto the stage in those diva sunglasses, Cheryl proved herself as so much more than magazine fodder; she was a bona fide popstar.

The quick change Show Me Love sample that followed was just the icing on the cake…

The Brits has always been known for its collaborations, many of which we’ve already touched on, and this is a perfect example of when two artists from two totally separate genres come together and make a performance work.

Adele’s sophomore album, 21, was obviously massive, but it was this performance at the Brit Awards that catapulted her to the position of mega-stardom.

Proving you don’t always need to pull huge stunts for a performance to be memorable, she performed the emotional track accompanied by just a piano, and by the time the glitter rain started falling, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Obviously, this will always be remembered as the performance Madonna fell down the stairs… but you can’t take away from her that she got up and finished the song as only a true pro really could.

There had been much speculation in the press leading to to the 2016 Brit Awards about how they’d be paying homage to the recently-deceased David Bowie, with a number of huge British artists rumoured to have been in the pipeline.

What no one predicted was that it would be Lorde who’d be taking to the stage, chosen as the late pop icon once declared she was the “future of music”.

We still get a bit teary watching this simple but emotional performance, even all these years later.

Anyone who was still doubting Little Mix’s star quality in 2017 was given a very abrupt awakening when they opened the Brit Awards with this stunning rendition of their signature tune.

This version of Shout Out To My Ex, complete with full choreo, a throne made out of spray-painted dancers and enough wigs to keep Cher happy for a full mini break, Little Mix knocked it out of the park on an otherwise pretty uneventful night.

A performance that starts off strong and then gets better and better.

Beginning as a live recreation of his Brit award-winning album cover, Stormzy quickly took us through a rendiition of Blinded By Your Grace before lambasting the government in a freestyle rap, highlighting the injustices of the Grenfell disaster, and then having a shirtless dance in the rain to Big For Your Boots.

This is how you close the show at the Brits.

The night well and truly belonged to Dave when the Brits took place in 2020.

Not only did Psychodrama end up taking home Album Of The Year, he also delivered the moment of the evening when he performed his song Black, including a blistering freestyle verse about institutional racism in the UK.

This included comparisons between the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, as well as accusations of racism towards then-newly-elected prime minister Boris Johnson.

For many of us, Dua Lipa’s second album Future Nostalgia provided some much-needed escapism at the height of the pandemic, when we were unable to see our loved ones or enjoy a night out.

When the awards show finally returned in mid-2021, it was amazing to see Dua bringing the songs we loved to life at last, while paying homage to some iconic former Brits performances with her hair and wardrobe.

Anyone who only knew Sam Smith from their emotional ballads was in for a shock when they tuned into their 2023 Brits performance.

Sam and Kim’s duet at the Grammys weeks earlier had already rattled conservative critics to the point terms like “satanism” were bring bandied around online. When it came to the Brits, the duo switched things up, honing in on Unholy’s “body shop” lyric and setting their performance in a mechanic shop.

Their performance, by the way, was reportedly so elaborate it wound up delaying the whole ceremony, leading ITV to play a year-old performance of Adele’s to fill a gap in their schedule.

Anyone who’s followed Raye’s career will know the journey to releasing her debut album came after a tumultuous decade navigating the pitfalls of the music industry. So, when the album itself wound up spawning a number one single, and really put Raye on the map as one of the UK’s biggest stars, it felt like poetic justice.

This performance at the 2024 Brits – where Raye walked away with four wins – felt like a massive victory lap, and served as a reminder to everyone why she’s a musical force to be reckoned with.

Having been grafting for years as both a singer and actor, Sabrina Carpenter had finally made it to global megastardom once she was invited to open the Brit Awards in 2025.

Not only was the chart-topper a household name, she was also synonymous with brewing up a bit of controversy with some of her stage performances, and that’s exactly what she did during her time on the Brits stage.

She kicked off that year’s show at around 8.15pm, with a medley of her songs which saw her sporting red lingerie while she and her dancers gyrated on a bed.

Towards the end of her performance, she was seen cosying up to a dancer dressed as a royal guard, before slipping down out of shot, at which point he winked suggestively towards the camera.

Sabrina’s performance, paired with Charli XCX’s revealing attire on stage, led to almost 1000 viewers complaining to Ofcom, prompting the Espresso singer to quip on Instagram: “Brits… I now know what watershed is.”

There was never a doubt in our mind that Jade would pull out all the stops with her solo Brits debut, but the level of theatrics she managed to squeeze into her performance still came as a shock.

Over the course of just four minutes, Jade managed multiple costume and wig changes, stellar live vocals, choreography stage combat and two jaw-dropping stunts, first plummeting through a trapdoor before ascending over everyone with angel wings for her final chorus.

Truly jaw-dropping stuff.

No parent wants to entertain the idea that their child could commit a sexual offence, or become the victim of one, but the latest statistics suggest we can’t bury our heads in the sand.

Data from the Youth Justice Board shows the number of children committing sexual offences is on the rise.

In 2025, proven sexual offences saw an increase for the third consecutive year, rising by 6%. The proportion of children arrested for sexual offences rose to 7%, up from 5% in 2024.

Meanwhile the number of youth cautions for sexual offences rose by 27% compared with the previous year.

“This data paints a troubling picture about today’s youth,” says Jessica Wilson, managing director at Eventum Legal.

According to the Youth Justice Board’s report, in the year ending March 2025, 54% (around 800) of proven sexual offences were related to indecent or extreme pornographic images or videos, which includes creating and sharing material.

Ghislaine Bombusa, content and digital director at Internet Matters, tells HuffPost UK: “Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) includes any content that shows or causes the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child. This can include sexual images that a young person creates of themselves.

“Once shared, these images can quickly spread beyond their control and be difficult to remove, causing serious and long-lasting harm.”

It is illegal to create, possess or share sexual images of anyone under 18, including when the person sharing these is also a child. It’s also a crime to use AI to create, possess or distribute indecent images of children.

Yet some young people appear to be either unaware of the consequences, or don’t think they will be caught.

Internet Matters research found that almost half (49%) of teenagers aged 13-16 have heard about abuse of another young person’s sexual image. This includes an image being shared without consent and/or threats to do so; and creation of sexual images without consent, including ‘deepfake’ nude images.

There’s been growing backlash against the availability of AI-powered nudifying apps, which can be used to ‘undress’ everyday images of people and turn them into pornography.

While photos of anyone, of any gender, can be uploaded to these apps and turned into deepfakes, a staggering 99% of nude deepfakes feature women and girls.

“Most young people don’t know or understand that sharing explicit content of their peers is considered a sexual offence,” suggests Wilson.

“This explicit content can often emerge without them understanding the risks associated with it, leading to serious consequences.”

Wilson believes education is key to preventing this from happening: “It’s more important than ever for parents, teachers, and communities to talk openly with young people about the dangers they face online, teaching them the value of consent, privacy, and how their actions can impact others.”

While talking to children about consent and online risks can seem like a bit of a minefield (where do we even begin?), Bombusa says these conversations “are essential for keeping them safe”.

It might be helpful to cover off areas such as:

• Legal implications of sharing sexual images – make sure that your child knows it’s not ok for anyone to create content to harm other people,
• How to report it if an image is shared
• Peer pressure
• Consent
• Digital footprint

Bombusa advises parents to use simple, direct language, and start by talking through everyday scenarios, asking what a child might do in that situation.

“This helps explain why young people may feel pressured to share images – including pressure from people they trust, and what the consequences could be,” she says.

It’s really important to explain that once an image is shared, they may lose control over who sees or saves it, even if it was originally sent to just one person in private.

The conversation can be an ongoing one – in fact, teens will probably feel more comfortable having informal side-by-side chats every now and then, rather than a sit-down lecture on online safety.

During these discussions you can also show them how to use reporting and blocking features, or how to recognise when someone may be trying to cause them harm.

“For older children, these conversations can help them understand how parents can support their digital wellbeing through parental controls across apps, devices, and networks,” Bombusa adds.

“This includes managing who can contact them or share content with them, as well as reducing screen time and limiting exposure to harmful content.”

Overall, the goal is to help children understand online risks without fear, says the expert, “empowering them to spot danger, speak up, and seek help” and “reassuring them that they won’t be blamed if something goes wrong”.

The latter part is key as it means they should (theoretically) feel comfortable to come to you if something happens that makes them uncomfortable.

If an image has already been shared, speak to your child about how to report it and block the sender. You can also report it to the police; as creating, possessing, or distributing indecent images of children is a criminal offence, regardless of whether the image is real or AI-generated.

Services such as CEOP or Report Remove, which helps young people under 18 confidentially report sexual images or videos of themselves online to have them removed, are also important to be aware of.

You can find helpful conversation starters on the Internet Matters site.