Brit Awards 2023: Here’s what everyone’s talking about after the ceremony – from Sam Smith’s performance to Wet Leg’s Morris dancing

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2023

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It was a Brit Awards that saw Harry Styles on stage accepting prizes for what felt like half the night – but while he dominated headlines, the singer’s clean sweep wasn’t the only thing people were talking about after this year’s ceremony.

Held on a Saturday night for the first time ever, moved from a school night presumably to get more people up for the party, the 2023 show included some stand-out performances – take a bow, Sam Smith and Kim Petras – as well as the usual mix of at least one odd acceptance speech and an awkward exchange between presenters on stage.

Styles, who kicked things off with his hit song As It Was, won all four of the awards he was shortlisted for – best pop/RnB act, best artist, best song and best album – while Wet Leg and Beyonce were the other big Brit Awards winners, and Becky Hill, Aitch and The 1975 also picked up prizes.

But awards shows aren’t just about awards.

Morris dancing and an Arctic Monkeys throwback

Was this the first ever Morris dancing performance at the Brits? If not, it was certainly the first one also featuring dancers dressed as massive owls.

Well done, Wet Leg, for putting on a memorable show.

The band also picked up the prizes for best new artist and best group – and reminded us all of that infamous Alex Turner speech from 2014, when Arctic Monkeys picked up the awards for best album and best group.

“That rock’n’roll, eh? That rock’n’roll, it just won’t go away. It might hibernate from time to time and sink back into the swamp…” said vocalist Rhian Teasdale, laughing as she continued and thanked all the women involved in making their debut album: “But in seriousness, thank you so much. This is so scary because being on the telly can be such a boys’ club thing.”

The most-memed outfit award goes to…

Apart from Bjork’s swan dress, Celine Dion’s back-to-front tux and a select few others, the fashion at TV and film awards shows tends to be more glam, less out there. Not so for the Grammys and Brits, where the music stars show it’s all about standing out by any means necessary.

This year, US singer and rapper Ashnikko created an alien-like second skin, while the Nova Twins made their own hooped tartan ensembles.

But in a field of strong entries, best song nominee and performer Sam Smith’s inflatable latex number wins the prize for most talked about on social media…

Serious snogging

And speaking of Sam Smith, their performance of hit song Unholy with Kim Petras was the stand-out of the night, reminding us all of the star’s beautiful and haunting vocals.

But it isn’t just the voice that people will remember – thanks to two amorous backing dancers who closed the set with some very heavy snogging on top of a car bonnet.

Goulding and Grennan

Ellie Goulding wore what can only be described as a breastplate to present an award alongside Tom Grennan, who made a rather awkward comment on stage – seemingly forgetting it’s not the 1990s anymore.

Tech problems

Close to the end of the ceremony, host Mo Gilligan was forced to apologise for “technical difficulties” – which meant viewers were shown archive footage of Adele performing at last year’s ceremony while they were sorted out.

It’s not clear what was happening behind the scenes, or if anything had to be cut, but there seemed to be a fair bit of filling.

And it came after some mishaps with the mute button, which failed to censor completely a few of the swearier speeches.

Sorry, Lewis

Gilligan also had a bit of a nightmare introducing performer and former Brit winner Lewis Capaldi, accidentally calling him Sam Capaldi.

He later joked about his mistake, saying how the drinks at the Brits are “extra strong”.

Don’t worry, Mo. We’re sure Lewis probably didn’t even notice…

Baby bumps

After announcing she was pregnant in January, having previously suffered a miscarriage and fertility struggles, Jessie J proudly displayed her baby bump on the Brits red carpet, accessorised with red lace and ruffles.

Singer Kamille also showed off her bump, dressed in turquoise satin.

Thanks, One Direction

Okay, we are going to mention Styles, after all. Not for his four awards, but for his thank yous.

There can’t be many former reality TV boybanders who go on to achieve Brits and Grammys success, as Styles has in the last week – not to mention his Mercury nod in 2022, too – and if there were, they probably wouldn’t highlight their path to stardom.

Not Styles, who paid tribute to both his former bandmates and the show that made him famous as he accepted the best artist award.

“I want to thank my mum for signing me up for The X Factor without telling me, so I literally wouldn’t be here without you,” he said. “I want to thank Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn because I wouldn’t be here without you either. Thank you so much.”

He also namechecked Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama, Mabel, Florence + The Machine and Becky Hill – all female acts who were eligible to be shortlisted for the prize.

UK

Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Published

22 mins ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Liverpool players past and present have joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva for their funeral in Portugal.

A service was held in the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto in northern Portugal on Saturday morning.

Mourners lined the streets and some in the crowd clapped as the brothers’ coffins were carried into the church.

The funeral – in pictures

Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.

His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.

Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.

Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.

Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.

Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

‘More than a friend’

In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”

Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”

Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.

‘With us forever’

Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.

“Their spirit will be with us forever.”

The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.

He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.

“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”

The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.

No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.

Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.

Flowers have been left outside Anfield, where flags have been lowered to half-mast and all club shops, museums and tours have been closed until Monday.

UK

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

3 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

UK

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva’s funeral in pictures

Published

5 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's funeral in pictures

The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.

The Liverpool forward, 28, and his brother died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.

Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.