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The 10 maddest moments of the BRIT Awards in Manchester

Stage invasions, censored speeches, and more

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 1st March 2026

Last night, the BRIT Awards came to Manchester for the first time ever, bringing some of the world’s biggest music names to our city.

And, in true Saturday-night-in-Manchester style, there were more than a few mad moments over at the Co-op Live.

This year’s BRIT Awards saw Olivia Dean go home the most-decorated performer of the night, scooping Artist of the Year, Mastercard Album of the Year, and Pop Act, among others.

There were also performances from Harry Styles, Mark Ronson, Raye, Olivia Dean and Rosalia – with plenty of surprises along the way.

And on a night that was heavily censored on TV, here are 10 moments you might have missed from the BRIT Awards 2026.

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Bez and Shaun being Bez and Shaun

It just wouldn’t be a big Manchester event without Happy Mondays icons Bez and Shaun Ryder picking up a microphone – even if no one knows exactly what will happen next.

With Bez sporting a bright red outfit that was halfway between a tomato and a bell boy, they made it pretty neatly through their presenting section, handing Wolf Alice the Best British Group Award (though Bez did keep interrupting Shaun’s speech to shout ‘MANCHESTER’).

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But then host Jack Whitehall made the mistake of sitting at the table with them, and Paddington Bear, with the ensuing chaos breaking Jack’s professional facade for the first time of the night… you can see the rest for yourself above.

The Hacienda raver in with the BRIT School kids

The Manchester jokes came thick and fast at the BRIT Awards, but a particularly odd moment occurred when Jack Whitehall headed into the pit with the BRIT School students.

He said: “This year, because we’re in Manchester, we wanted to mix it up a bit – by throwing in some proper old-school ravers with the BRIT School kids.

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“Yeaaah! There he is, the big man keeping the spirit of the Hacienda alive.

“Don’t look concerned kids, he’s actually the same age as you, he’s just from Preston.”

The ‘stage invasion’ during Sombr’s performance

Halfway through Sombr’s set at the BRIT Awards, there was a moment where chaos broke out – stage invader wrestled off stage by security, set collapsing around him, sparks flying.

And for a brief moment, the audience panicked that the star was in real trouble.

But no. Just a stunt. Not a very good one. Sombr is alive and well.

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Angry Ginge and Luke Littler on the same stage as Rosé

In a night that poked non-stop fun at the North, it was refreshing to have an actual Manc have a moment in the spotlight – and our unlikely hero of the night was none other than social media star and King of the Jungle Angry Ginge.

He hopped up on stage with Luke Littler – yes, him off the darts – to present the International Song of the Year award, which went to Blackpink star Rosé and Bruno Mars’ hit APT.

There was just something about seeing one of the world’s biggest pop stars sandwiched between two such utterly British characters that felt a bit crazy.

Rosalía’s Liam Gallagher impression

As well as delivering one of the stand-out performances of the night, BRIT Award-winner Rosalía also delivered one of our favourite moments.

While chatting with Jack Whitehall about her multilingual album Lux, he asked her if she spoke any Manc.

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To which she turned straight to the camera, addressed Liam Gallagher directly, and dropped a ‘Sunsheeeiiiiiine’. Amazing woman.

Surprise Dua Lipa

The moment Dua Lipa made a surprise appearance at the BRIT Awards
The moment Dua Lipa made a surprise appearance at the BRIT Awards

During Mark Ronson’s medley of hits, as part of his Outstanding Contribution to Music award, he pulled out plenty of surprises.

There was Ghostface Killa popping up out of a car parked on stage, a beautiful tribute to Amy Winehouse featuring her original vocals with a live band – and then the glitterball started lowering from the ceiling, with Dua Lipa herself perched on top of it.

It was an especially fun moment for those in the audience at the Co-op Live, who saw the star had been hiding up in the rafters since the last ad break for her moment in the spotlight.

The table of politicians, including Andy Burnham

In amongst all the music heavyweights and pop culture darlings in the Co-op Live, sat in arguably the best seats in the house, was none other than a gaggle of local politicians.

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Andy Burnham, Bev Craig, and Lisa Nandy all sat right beside the stage, with Jack Whitehall joining them for a brief roast.

He said: “Oh my god it’s Andy Burnham! Legend! The only party he’s allowed in to these days.”

Jack added: “And Lisa Nandy! This must be the politician’s table, I wonder who else is here,” before making a joke about Peter Mandelson that was quickly censored on ITV… more on that later.

Surprise Bjork

The first surprise of the night was a big one – none other than Björk.

The seminal Icelandic star made a very rare live appearance with Rosalia during her blistering performance of Berghain.

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It’s already being dubbed the ‘best performance at the BRITs ever’.

James Blunt nonchalantly playing piano with Alex Warren

There was another special guest on stage with this year’s BRIT Award performers, but this one came with remarkably less fanfare than Dua Lipa and Bjork.

Yep, the pianist performing behind Alex Warren was James Blunt, complete with velvet smoking jacket.

The camera barely even zoomed in on him throughout the performance, and in the Co-op Live it was mostly a chorus of people saying ‘… is that James Blunt…?’

The stuff you didn’t hear on TV…

The main difference between being in the room at the BRIT Awards in Manchester and watching it on telly at home is the lack of censoring happening in the venue itself.

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Fans watching at home were baffled at what jokes they were missing out on as ITV slammed the *white noise* button at every swear and political joke. So here are some of the bits you might have missed.

Addressing the table of politicians, Jack Whitehall said: “I wonder who else is here? I think I saw Peter Mandelson on the list – no, sorry, that was another list.” 

On stage, Angry Ginge said: “It is an absolute privilege to see the BRITs in Manchester, because it shows people are realising London’s a sh*thole.”

Geese’s Max Bassin’s acceptance speech was also censored, with him opening with: “Free Palestine, f*ck ICE.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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BRITs 2026 – A (completely subjective) ranking of all the performances from worst to best

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

The BRIT Awards brought all the action to Manchester last night, including some absolutely stellar performances by huge names.

But who gave the best performance of the night? And who sadly missed the mark?

That’s right – The BRITs landed in Manchester for the first time in its 46-year history, electrifying Co-op Live as part of a two-year deal described as a ‘bold new chapter’ for the legendary event, and there was some incredible live acts performing to celebrate.

Now, before we get into it, this piece right here very much defines what Op-Ed is. This is an article written up based on personal opinion, and should only be viewed in that way. You see, we usually like to remain as impartial as we can on The Manc, and always aim to present things from all perspectives where possible. Often, you’ll even see us referring to ourselves using collective pronouns (as we just did there… and right then too), but right now, it’s time for some first-person pronoun usage – hi, my name’s Emily, and this is my ranking.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of the lucky The Manc Group team members who got to attend the BRITs in person at Co-op Live last night, so I just sat at home watching from the comfort of my sofa while live-reporting on all the winners instead.

That did mean, however, that I got a front-row seat to all of the night’s performances, so I’m arguably *qualified* to rank them all from worst to best… right?

Okay, so here it goes then.

___

Honourable Mention

I only feel it’s fair to put this performance into its own category and not include it as part of the full ranking, given the fact that it paid tribute to indisputable rock icon Ozzy Osbourne following his passing last year, and came after he was award the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rock on, Ozzy.

9. Sombr

Look, I’m sorry to Sombr. I actually am. I don’t even really dislike his music that much, ’12 to 12′ is an undeniable banger (a banger he didn’t perform though, I might add) and for all I know he could be a really genuinely nice lad in real life – but when he gets up on that stage, I just… it’s not for me okay.

Also the fake ‘stage invasion’ wasn’t needed. I know his new song’s called ‘Homewrecker’ but he didn’t perform that one either, so it just didn’t make sense to have it in there.

8. Alex Warren

I have to confess, straight off the bat – this was not as bad as I was expecting it to be.

I mean, I can’t say I’ve ever willingly listened to Alex Warren’s chart-topping song ‘Ordinary’ all the way through before, so I don’t know what exactly I was expecting from it, to be honest, I just wasn’t expecting it to be good… and it wasn’t, but it also wasn’t that bad either, so I respect that.

HUGE shoutout to James Blunt, though – like what the hell? Sure.

7. HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters)

Right, why were they in the car park?

I mean I know ‘why’, it’s for the kids. But imagine being an East Manchester resident just trying to enjoy a quiet Saturday night in, and then all you can hear are three singers reaching excessively high notes outside your house, even when all your doors and windows are closed. Should’ve just let them inside. Song’s a banger though, it genuinely is.

Also, if we’re still doing confessions, I genuinely thought HUNTR/X were an AI band until only a couple of months ago and was truly humbled to find out they weren’t after exclaiming it with my whole chest. Anyway, the more you know. I blame the fact it’s an animated film for fooling me.

6. Raye

I’m expecting to get a bit of backlash on this from all the Raye fans in our office, but this one just didn’t grab me to be honest. It didn’t really distinguish itself from any other Raye performances, and I think I just wanted a bit more?

Cannot fault her talent though. I really can’t.

5. Wolf Alice

Surprisingly, given the type of music and artists everyone who knows me knows I’m a fan of, I’ve never really taken to Wolf Alice a great deal, and I’m not entirely sure as to why either, which feels a little unfair to them. This performance, however, was impressive.

My personal favourite part was when everyone climbed out of the sofa, and also when Ellie was looking dead down the barrel of the camera lens singing on that suspended bridge thing.

I might have to bury whatever non-existent hatchet I seem to have with them, and get to know.

4. Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean was the big winner of the night, hands down (I mean, she won four BRITs so it’s less ‘hands down’, more just facts) and you will never, repeat NEVER, see me tearing her down for that. But I just don’t think her performance of her huge viral hit ‘Man I Need’ here secures her a spot in the top three performances of the night.

This does not mean I didn’t enjoy it though. Oh no, I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it, and it looks like she did too – and honestly, that’s the main thing. Nothing else matters.

3. Mark Ronson

Dua Lipa surprise appearance coming down from the ceiling on a disco ball. That’s it, that’s the review.

Okay, to add to it a bit more, I suppose – this was overall a really lovely performance to honour Mark Ronson’s impressive Outstanding Contribution to Music award that he accepted earlier, and was a great retrospective on his illustrious career. The Amy Winehouse tribute was a tear-jerker.

Also, rogue Ghostface Killah appearance in the year 2026. Okay then (Wu-Tang are performing at Co-op Live later this month on their UK tour, so not that ‘rogue’, but we weren’t expecting him here, were we?).

2. Harry Styles

It pains me, physically pains me, that I’ve just had to write out ‘2. Harry Styles’, but unfortunately, he’s just missed out on the top spot.

Less than a week before he takes to the Co-op Live stage in Manchester for one night only next Friday to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, our lovely Harry performed lead single ‘Aperture’ to open last night’s BRIT Awards, and it was just joyful to witness from start to finish.

That white boy’s got a good bit of motion, you can’t take that away from him.

It’s slightly more of a niche thing to praise, but as someone who’s grown up dancing my whole life, the choreography here really is my s**t, and really elevated – if not made – the whole performance.

1. Rosalía

I’ve only just picked my jaw up off the floor.

This was, by far, my most highly-anticipated performance of the night by a country mile, and f**k me did it deliver. It has to be said, while we’re here, that Rosalía’s Lux ended up being my pick for album of the year in 2025 according to our Audio North year-end list, so there may be a little bit of bias in my review, but this was genuinely everything I was hoping it would be and more.

This was Rosalía’s first – and so far, only – performance of ‘Berghain’ live on television since the album was released to universal acclaim this past November, so even if it wasn’t particularly up your street, you still got to witness a hugely important moment.

The transition to the additional ‘rave’ element once the song had finished really turned it into the sort of thing that could be played in the infamous Berlin club it’s named after. Excellent touch.

Also BJÖRKKKKKKK. Ahhhhhhhh. If you wanted the most genuine re-creation of my reaction when she appeared last night, this was it. “AHHHHHHHH”.

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Featured Image – BRITs (via YouTube)

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Noel Gallagher’s BRIT Awards acceptance speech in full after on-air censorship

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Noel Gallagher's BRIT Awards acceptance speech in full after on-air censorship

Noel Gallagher was presented with the prestigious Songwriter of the Year Award at the BRITs in Manchester – but fans have been wondering what he said in his heavily-censored acceptance speech.

The Oasis legend took to the stage at the Co-op Live arena to graciously accept the accolade from Primal Scream frontman, Bobby Gillespie.

Audiences both in the venue and watching at home on TV then watched a VT highlighting Noel Gallagher’s career achievements, plus a special pre-recored message by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

But when it was Noel’s turn to speak, ITV bleeped out quite a bit of what he said – a recurring theme throughout the expletive-ridden ceremony.

Thankfully, us lot here at The Manc were in the room itself, so we can tell you what Noel Gallagher actually said in his speech as he accepted his BRIT Award.

“I’m going to start by saying, I’ve got to thank my brother,” – to rapturous applause.

He continued: “Bonehead, Guigsy, Tony McCarroll, Alan White, Gem, and Andy. They brought those songs to life.

“Without them, I’d just be a singer-songwriter, and no one gives a sh*t about singer-songwriters.

“But more importantly I’d like to thank you, the people who have kept our songs alive for the last 34 years.

“You’ve given us the most extraordinary life. Thank you very much for that.

“Have a great night.

“Up the f**king Blues.”

You can see the full list of winners from the BRIT Awards 2026 in Manchester HERE.

Featured image: The Manc Group

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