Brits are ‘Harry’s House’ as Styles sweeps the board with four wins

Mo Gilligan hosted the ceremony at the O2 on Saturday 11 February

The 2023 Brit awards have come to a conclusion – albeit a slightly uneventful one.

Britain’s biggest night in music saw a number of repeat winners, with Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg and Harry Styles taking home multiple awards.

The awards ceremony was held on Saturday 11 February.

The event kicked off at London’s O2 arena with a star-studded red carpet. Celebrities including Styles, Sam Smith, Salma Hayek, Lewis Capaldi, and Ellie Goulding struck a pose.

Smith, in particular, turned heads in their shiny black inflatable latex jumpsuit. You can see the boldest looks from the Brits here.

Comedian Mo Gilligan returned to host for a second time. The Masked Singer judge and Netflix star took over hosting duties from long-time presenter Jack Whitehall in 2022.

Unfortunately, Gilligan seemed to run into some technical issues with his autocue, when he appeared to introduce Wet Leg as “One Leg” and Lewis Capaldi as “Sam Capaldi”.

The night began with a lively performance from Harry Styles who sang his viral TikTok hit “As It Was” while bare-chested in a red sequin jacket, wearing plenty of rings, and lilac nail polish.

Wet Leg celebrate after Brits Awards win (Getty)

He went on to win Song of the Year just as fellow nominee Capaldi had earlier predicted. “I may be nominated but Harry will win,” quipped the “Before You Go” singer.

Styles won in all four categories that he was nominated in: Song of the Year, the Pop/R&B award, Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year – the latter of which fans had previously criticised for its all-male nominees.

Last year, the Brits scrapped its male and female categories in a bid to make the awards as “inclusive and relevant as possible”. The move had previously been called for by artists including Sam Smith and Will Young, who said gendered categories excluded non-binary musicians.

During his acceptance speech for Artist of the Year, Styles thanked his family, singling out his mum who signed him up to The X Factor without his knowledge.

The musician also thanked his former One Direction bandmates by name, saying: “I wouldn’t be here without you, either.”

He added: “I’m very aware of my privilege so this award is for Rina, Charli, Florence, Mabel and Becky.”

Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, Florence and the Machine, Mabel, and Becky Hill were all eligible to be nominated for Artist of the Year. None, however, made the cut.

(EPA)

One of his awards was presented by Salma Hayek, who was flanked by shirtless men when she announced the nominees for Pop/R&B.

After a successful Grammys in Los Angeles earlier this month, Wet Leg also triumphed on their home turf, winning two of their four nominated categories. The duo – who performed a rendition of their hit 2022 song “Chaise Longue” – won British Group and Best New Artist.

Accepting the award for British Group, the pair gave the mic over to their band, after which bassist Ellis Durand made a brief but strongly-worded political statement. ITV rushed to censor the words: “F*** the Tories.”

Elsewhere during the night, Aitch took home the first statuette, beating out heavy hitters such as Dave and Stormzy for the R&B/Grime/Rap prize.

(PA)

All eyes were on the next award, however, not so much because of the recipient but because of who was presenting the award.

Happy Valley fans were stunned to see Rhys Connah – who plays Ryan in the hit BBC series – presenting the award for International Artist of the Year alongside Georgia May Jagger. Unfortunately, the winner, Beyonce, was not in attendance and had to send her thanks over video.

It was none other than Stanley Tucci who had the honours of announcing the final winner of the evening, who was… (drum roll please – although everyone knew it, already) Harry Styles who took home Album of the Year.

You can find the full list of Brit Awards 2023 winners here.

Follow along with live updates from the Brits here.