Sam Fender has won the 2025 Mercury Prize for his album People Watching.

The announcement was made during the award ceremony in Newcastle on Thursday night, marking the event’s debut outside of London.

Jubilant crowds cheered hometown hero Sam Fender, from North Shields, who triumphed over competitors including Britpop legends Pulp, Irish artist CMAT, and post-punk group Fontaines DC.

DJ Lauren Laverne hosted the event, while judge Sian Eleri announced the 31-year-old’s win at the Utilita Arena, following performances by several nominees, including FKA Twigs and Martin Carthy.

Judge Eleri said: “After much hard discussion, we decided on one album that stood out for its cohesion, character, and ambition.

“It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come.”

Accepting the award, Fender expressed gratitude to the other nominees, saying, “we’re in great company”.

He dedicated the prize to his late friend and mentor, Annie Orwin, who inspired the album’s title track.

“I want to just say thank you because I never did to the person, the song that People Watching is about,” Fender said, becoming emotional.

“I want to dedicate it to Annie Orwin who’s up there.

“That’s all I’ve got thank you, and I love, this region is the best region in the country.”

Among other nominated artists were Pulp, Wolf Alice, FKA Twigs, PinkPantheress, Pa Salieu, Emma-Jean Thackray, Jacob Alon, Joe Webb and Martin Carthy.

If Wolf Alice or Pulp had won the prize, they would have become only the second artist to have won the award twice after PJ Harvey, who won it with Stories From The City in 2001 and Let England Shake in 2011.

Pulp won the prize in 1996 with their album Different Class, while Wolf Alice won with Visions Of A Life in 2018.

Established in 1992, the award honours the best album released by a British or Irish artist each year.

Last year, the indie quartet English Teacher took home the prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas.

Fender had been nominated before in 2022 for his album Seventeen Going Under.

The BBC has said Gregg Wallace is not “entitled to any damages” in response to a High Court claim filed by the presenter – in which he says the broadcaster caused him “distress and harassment”.

The former MasterChef presenter is suing the broadcaster and its subsidiary BBC Studios Distribution Limited after he was sacked from the cooking show in July.

Wallace was dismissed after an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct upheld multiple accusations against him.

He has filed a legal claim for up to £10,000 in damages, alleging the BBC failed to comply with a request for copies of his personal data, which caused “distress and harassment”.

In its defence filed at the High Court, Jason Pobjoy KC, for the BBC, said: “It is denied that the claimant has suffered any distress or harassment as a result of the responses of the BBC.

“It is denied that the claimant is entitled to any damages, interest or other relief, whether as pleaded or otherwise.”

The broadcaster further denied that Wallace “has suffered any distress or harassment” as a result of its responses.

The court documents also claim that the presenter failed to give the BBC prior notice of his intention to issue legal proceedings.

The broadcaster has admitted Wallace wrote to it on 6 March this year, asking for copies of his personal data.

Mr Pobjoy said the BBC did not provide Wallace with a “substantive response” within three months of his request “primarily due to the lack of proportionality and scale”.

He said that after designating the request as complex, the BBC responded to Wallace on 7 October and provided him with a copy of his personal data.

The barrister said the “voluntary disclosure demonstrates that the claimant has no basis to claim damages for distress, or otherwise, in respect of the withholding of such information”.

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Court documents filed on behalf of Wallace last month said the BBC emailed the presenter on 7 August to apologise for the delay in sending his personal data.

Barrister Lawrence Power said the broadcaster told Wallace it was “taking all reasonable steps” to process the request in “as timely a manner as possible going forward”, but that he had still not received a response when the court documents were filed.

He said that by “failing to fully comply with the subject access requests” made by Wallace, “the defendants acted in breach of their statutory duty and, in doing so, caused distress and harassment to the claimant”.

Wallace began co-presenting MasterChef in 2005, but it was announced in November 2024 that he would step away from his role while the misconduct allegations were investigated.

A review by law firm Lewis Silkin later upheld 45 of the 83 allegations against him, including one of “unwelcome physical contact”.

Wallace issued an apology, saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”.

Social media star “Big John” Fisher has said he is being deported from Australia after he was detained over visa issues.

Fisher, known for reviewing fast food online, arrived in Australia on Tuesday for appearances in Perth and Sydney.

In posts on his Instagram, he said he was questioned by border officials for four hours in the city of Perth.

He said he was due to head home on Wednesday, his birthday, at 6.30pm local time.

“My visa was legal coming in but they are not happy with what I am doing here so they are sending me home,” he said. “To be truthful, I just want to go home now.

“When common sense goes out the window you lose a bit of hope with human beings.

“Well even though I am under lock and key it’s my birthday, I’m still smiling and I still love Australia.

“Just can’t wait to get home to my family and good old England.”

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It is understood Fisher was travelling on an incorrect visa.

An Australian Border Force spokesperson said it did not comment on individual passengers.

Fisher, who has more than 680,000 followers on Instagram, went viral for his love of Chinese takeaway and is best known for his use of the catchphrase “bosh”.

He makes regular appearances at restaurants, clubs and major events around the world.

His son, British heavyweight boxer Johnny Fisher, wrote on Instagram: “The Aussies have detained Big John and are sending him home- rumour has it they are frightened of his express pace bowling ahead of the Ashes.”