Ten years of revealing Glastonbury’s secrets: How surprises provide the festival’s greatest moments
“Well, you didn’t think we were gonna let you down, did you?”
So said Jarvis Cocker as he addressed the enormous crowd at Glastonbury‘s Park stage in 2011; thousands and thousands of people stood in front of him to see perhaps the worst-kept secret in the festival’s history, and one of its greatest live music experiences.
The speculation that the then newly reformed Pulp would play the surprise set that day – after Radiohead the previous day, no less – had grown so intense that latecomers reportedly had to be turned away, such was demand.
Beyonce, Coldplay and U2 headlined that year, but like many squashed in the Park Stage audience, squelching in the mud, it was the magic of singing along to Do You Remember The First Time?, Something Changed, and Common People I remember above everything.
Over the years, artists including The Killers, The Libertines, Lady Gaga, Foals and Franz Ferdinand have also popped up “unannounced” at Glastonbury. Last year, an act supposedly called The Churnups, conspicuous by their late-evening Pyramid Stage slot despite being an unknown entity, turned out to be The Foo Fighters.
The festival is famous for its secret sets, surprise guests and big names appearing in unexpected places, so while Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA headline this year, it is the TBA slots that may well provide some of the most memorable moments.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on stage at Glastonbury in 2023. Pic: Anna Barclay
One person in the know is the founder of @secretglasto, a Twitter account which launched 10 years ago and now has almost 80,000 followers and a small team of six keeping the updates going. They have no official ties to the festival, but over the years have cultivated their sources – from people working on stages to sometimes even acts themselves – so they are “90% confident” about whatever they hint at.
“There’s also people that have been good at [revealing] what acts are playing before the line-up comes out,” says the Secret Glasto founder (we’ll call them SG). “So you can take their word a lot more seriously because they have some way of knowing what’s going on – even if you don’t know the specifics as to how they get that information, you can see the track record.”
When it comes to favourite secret sets, SG names Drenge and Wolf Alice, but says it’s “hard to look past The Killers”, who turned up in 2017 – 10 years after headlining for the first time, and two years before returning to headline again.
“The Killers in a tent, that’s something you feel it would only ever happen at Glastonbury. Compared to most of our secret set rumours we heard that one very late and personally I was very nervous by it, but also we had no other names in the frame. The relief when Frank Carter mentioned it was The Killers after him was palpable!
“So many people I have met since that show have been really thankful because they wouldn’t have gone [without the Secret Glasto tip] because a lot of them actually liked acts playing elsewhere at the time… why would you go to a secret set you don’t know if you’ve got eight out of 10 options elsewhere? The Killers to everyone was a 10 out of 10 option.”
With the potential for people to miss other brilliant acts based on the hints of their anonymous account, SG says they do feel a sense of responsibility, especially as the number of followers has grown.
“Quite a lot of the time for these secret sets, to get a good spot you’re [at the stage] for an entire set before. And you’re missing other things that you would love to see. So it is a big responsibility to make sure that we’re right about our info. There have been some secrets we just haven’t tweeted because we didn’t know who it was.”
Liam Gallagher is currently performing his Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary shows – but he could take a break for Glastonbury? Pic: Dan Reid/Shutterstock
Kasabian frontman Serge Pizzorno on stage headlining Glastonbury in 2014. Pic: James Mccauley/Shutterstock
For many Glastonbury-goers, the account has become a go-to place for reliable hints about the unnanounced acts set to play. There are a few TBA slots on the line-up this year – the biggest of which is set for the Woodsies Stage at 6pm on Saturday.
The bookies’ favourities include Liam Gallagher, fresh from his Definitely Maybe anniversary tour dates; Kasabian, who would mark 10 years since they headlined in 2014; and Pulp, as Cocker will already be on site to perform in the small Stonebridge Bar with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on the Friday. Other names bandied about include Harry Styles, Green Day, Charli XCX and, um, Taylor Swift, who’s set to perform her Eras tour shows in Dublin on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, so seems pretty unlikely.
SG is not revealing anything yet, but says Pulp, Kings Of Leon, Kasabian and Charli XCX are among the main acts rumoured.
Could Harry Styles pop up this year? Pic: PA
As well as the Woodsies TBA, SG also says there will be some other “big surprises around the site doing some very small slots”.
However, they won’t mention where. “I don’t even want to mention the stages because I know how skittish some of those areas can be. I know in 2022, there was going to be a stage headliner from one of the recent years playing a very small slot that got canned quite last minute. So yeah, quite hesitant to to reveal more than that, but we have heard of some very interesting things.”
After 10 years of revealing Glastonbury’s secrets, what has SG learned about why the surprise acts have become such a special part of the festival?
“I think it’s just the fact all these acts have decided the money [doesn’t matter], and their egos don’t need placating,” says SG. “You’ve got some acts who would just be like, if we’re not a headliner, no matter what the money is, we would not play a certain slot.”
Glastonbury’s secret acts are there purely to put on something fun for the fans, SG continues. “It creates such a different atmosphere. A lot of the secret sets are bands that feel like Glastonbury helped their careers in some way, and it’s their way of sort of giving back.
“Unlike other British festivals, I think Glastonbury cultivates more of a ‘we go every year, regardless’ mentality. So these acts can feel like the people that supported them at, say, a previous slot that went really well for them will still be there, or at least a sizeable number of them will still be there, to enjoy the secret set they do down the line.”
Entertainment
Gary Lineker says ‘right time’ to leave Match Of The Day as he hints of changes to show’s format
Gary Lineker has said it is “the right time” to leave Match Of The Day and hinted the BBC could change the format of the Premier League highlights show.
The 63-year-old will step down as host at the end of the season and described his time on the show as an “absolute joy and privilege”.
Speaking on his podcast, The Rest Is Football, he said: “It has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC.
“But all things have to come to an end.”
Lineker went on to say the broadcaster enters a new three-year deal to host top-flight highlights, and that to stay on for another 12 months “would be a bit weird”.
“I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.
“I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time.”
Lineker refused to speculate who would be taking his place, as rumours grew around Mark Chapman, the regular Match Of The Day 2 presenter, Football Focus host Alex Scott, and BBC sports coverage presenter Gabby Logan.
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“Obviously I don’t know who it’ll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don’t think that’d be the right thing to do – but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,” he said.
“I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam.
“…I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it’s a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.”
Lineker pictured with former MOTD host Des Lynam in 2009. Pic: PA
Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for more than a quarter of a century when he leaves in May 2025.
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He will continue with the MOTD Top Ten podcast alongside his podcast, which also features BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
The former England striker has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35m in the year 2023/24.
The BBC said future plans for Match Of The Day would be “announced in due course”.
Coach tickets to Glastonbury 2025 were sold out in half an hour, organisers have said, as they roll out a new booking system for festivalgoers.
They were the first group of tickets to be sold for the world-famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June.
This year, fans navigated a new system to buy the tickets as they were “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.
The organisers said in a post on X: “The Glastonbury 2025 tickets + coach travel which were on sale this evening have now all been sold.
“Our thanks to everyone who bought one.”
They added that National Express services would be available to bring festivalgoers from across the country to Glastonbury.
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Standard tickets will go on sale on Sunday at 9am. Last year they were sold out within an hour.
See Tickets said in a post on X that “confirmation emails are going out now to everyone who got @Glastonbury coach tickets this evening”.
Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.
The new ticket system has changed the way people join the booking system.
Organisers previously warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opened today and to avoid refreshing the page.
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Festivalgoers were also told not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.
The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.
Anyone wishing to buy tickets for Glastonbury must have registered by 11 November, a rule in place to avoid touting.
Entertainment
Christmas adverts – the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences
With just under six weeks to go to Christmas Day, the countdown has officially begun, with all the big brands rolling out their seasonal adverts.
Becoming something of an institution over recent years, many see the festive ads as the starting pistol for their Christmas preparation/panic, despite us only being halfway through November.
And with an estimated £10.5bn spent on this year’s Xmas ads, it’s not just about inducing a fuzzy warm feeling in viewers, but also about encouraging them to put their hand in their pocket.
As we brace ourselves for festive fun, we take a swift look at this year’s bevvy of commercial offerings, as the annual battle of the Christmas adverts begins.
John Lewis
A girl called Sally falls into a clothes rack reminiscent of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but instead of finding Narnia, she ends up in John Lewis.
Pic: PA
Through family flashbacks we lean how much she loves her older sister, whose gift she has carelessly left it to the last minute to buy. Spoiler alert – as one would expect in an advert for a retailer, she finds a pressie.
With the retailer famous for its use of cover versions in their Christmas ads, this one is the origin story for a new cover, with a concurrent competition on TikTok to find an aspiring artist to rerecord a version, which will be featured on the Christmas Day airing and released by record label BMG too.
Waitrose
Marketed as a whodunnit – this big-budget production has a host of celebrity cameos, an intricate storyline and not one but two parts.
Pic: Waitrose
Comedian Joe Wilkinson, Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen all have a role in the ensemble, revolving around hunting down the thief of a “chilled desert”.
Being Christmas, when tensions are traditionally high, everyone has reason to have scoffed it. The culprit won’t be revealed until the second part of the ad is released, but in the meantime, activity at Kings Cross Station, in stores and on social media is set to keep the investigation very much alive.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s goes big for its advert, calling on a beloved Roald Dahl character – the BFG, or Big Friendly Giant – to travel the country with a supermarket worker called Sophie (who pleasingly is a real store employee) in the search for the perfect festive treats.
Pic: Sainsbury’s
A CGI BFG procures salmon, sprouts and cheese before a bit of magic helps him whip it all up into a feast, which he then gifts to an unsuspecting family through the window.
The first ones to release their ad earlier this month, the dulcet tones of national treasure Stephen Fry wrap the action, with a call to arms to stock up in readiness for Christmas.
M&S
Another national treasure – Dawn French – is back for this one, playing both herself and a festive fairy, who gives both French and her home a make-over ready for a Christmas soiree.
Pic: PA
French, whose multi-Christmas-dinner eating antics on The Vicar Of Dibley put her into the Xmas annals, is transformed into “the quintessential hostess” with a bit of help from her little friend.
Banking on the idea that you can never have enough of a good thing, there are six instalments of the advert running between now and the New Year. Who doesn’t like a second – or sixth – helping.
Lidl
This one pulls on the heartstrings, with a little girl inspired to give a gift to a boy who appears not to have any, after an old lady gives her some magic bells.
Pic: Lidl
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (he directed The King’s Speech), a CGI racoon and giant gingerbread man add a little action to events around the dinner table.
But the take home message is to think about giving as well as receiving, with the return of the retailer’s toy banks scheme set up at supermarkets with the aim of donating over 100,000 toys, to ensure no child experiences a giftless Christmas.
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot is back for a ninth year running, this time trying to save the Christmas spirit from a bunch of hard-boiled humbug villains.
Pic: Aldi
With the ad narrated by actor Jim Broadbent, our plucky hero braves an oven, a Mission Impossible-inspired ventilation system and Bond-esque snow jet-ski dash across the mountains, all to save Christmas.
Helped by his wife Katie, he of course pulls it off. A fan favourite, soft toys of the root vegetable are sold in stores, and this year cuddly humbugs are on sale too.
Morrisons
It’s a song and dance number from Morrisons, courtesy of their singing oven gloves performing Bugsy Malone’s You Give A Little Love.
Pic: Morrisons
A choir of 26 Morrisons employees gave voice to the gloves, recording their rendition of the song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
Like Lidl, the retailer pulled out the directing big guns, hiring The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey to oversee proceedings.
Asda
Bagging the prize for the most gnome puns in one advert, Asda sees a flash mob of gnomes preparing the store for Christmas.
Pic: Asda
The resulting advert isn’t as irritating as it sounds on paper, thanks to nice performances by the two human characters in the ad – Maggie and Bill.
And as we know, Christmas is all about the merchandise, so the supermarkets are of course selling special Xmas versions of their garden gnomes to accompany their already 50-strong gnome range. Who knew?
Tesco
Tesco reminds us of those members of the family who are no longer here to join us on the big day, with a man carrying on his late grandmother’s festive tradition of baking gingerbread.
Pic: Tesco
He becomes obsessed with the spicy treat, as it infiltrates every part of his day from his haircut to a trip to see the Christmas lights.
He eventually gets together with his grandad to bake a gingerbread house, revealing it to the family at lunch, thus keeping the tradition alive.
Greggs
And in the most unlikely festive cameo of the year, Greggs has enlisted Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad.
Pic: PA
Rapturously endorsing their festive bakes, Lawson has her hands full of pasties, and her table full of take-away coffees, as she promotes the bakery’s festive-themed fare.
Whether or not you believe the 64-year-old TV chef really tucks into their sausage rolls in real life – the attention-grabbing collaboration looks like a wise move for the chain, whose sales have jumped in recent weeks as it continues its UK expansion.
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