Brit Awards 2023 host Mo Gilligan gears up for show

Glitz. Glamour. Criticism. It feels like no 2023 awards show is complete without some sort of row. But what do you do when you’re the host?

If you’re Mo Gilligan, you don’t get into it.

Saturday’s his second time fronting the Brits – and the show’s been criticised because no women have been nominated for best artist.

Mo tells BBC Newsbeat he thinks it’s for the “powers that be” to decide who is nominated.

“My job is to host the proceedings, as opposed to give my opinions.

“I’m impartial,” he says.

It’s also the second year for the best artist prize – the Brits replaced best male and best female awards with one, gender-neutral category in 2022.

Mo’s not unaware of the criticisms and Newsbeat aren’t the only ones that’ve asked him about them.

He also gave an interview to BBC music correspondent Mark Savage, and told him: “No-one gets into this industry being like, ‘I must win this award, I must be nominated for that’.

“And the people that are watching it, the young kids who are like, ‘Oh, I want to be like Adele or Beyoncé , or, Sam Smith,’ they just want to be like their idols.

“This is a celebration of music first.”

But the 34-year-old, who uses a lot of music in his routines, says he likes the fact artists are speaking out.

“They’re being heard and their opinions are being listened to,” he tells Newsbeat.

“It’s nice to be part of musicians who are using their platform to have an opinion on society and life.”

Criticism or not, it’s fair to say there will be a lot of eyes on Mo when he hits the stage.

And the comedian says he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous ahead of Saturday.

“This is a big occasion for me and for so many people,” Mo says.

“I think it’s nice to have some nerves you know, I think the day I don’t have any nerves is the day that this is too normal.”

And how will the chat show host, who has three Baftas to his name, calm those pre-show nerves?

“Nothing that a little shot of tequila can’t handle.”

But what’s he learnt from hosting the Brits for the first time in 2022?

Mo says he will “probably be a bit calmer than last year” when he was “shouting a lot”.

“I was just excited to be out in front of 20,000 people. Everyone was back, it was almost like a bit of a welcome back show a little bit.

“What you could expect is a bit more controlled chaos on my behalf.”

And Mo says presenting the Brits for the second time has even given him more confidence when it comes to his drip.

“I’m doing a suit change as well so I’m doing two different colours,” he tells Newsbeat.

“I’ve always seen in the big award shows, they’ve always got someone doing a suit change.

“Last year I wasn’t that confident in doing it but I’ve kind of got one under my belt now.”

Mo even shared a few Brit secrets about the backstage “pamper room” with Newsbeat.

“You can get pampered, you can get like a little facial for example.

“You’ve got to book it but they’ve got a whole room, it’s really relaxing, there is cool music.”

So could Mo be sitting next to Harry Styles getting his nails done before they go on stage?

“Literally, maybe even my toes. Let’s not rule out the toes.”