Jack Whitehall resigns as host of the British Open
Image credit: The Sun
After four years as host of the Brit Awards, comedian and actor Jack Whitehall has announced his departure.
On Friday, the 33-year-old actor tweeted that he would be “handing on the baton” to someone else next year because he will be filming in the United States in early 2022.
He tweeted, “I loved doing it so much.”
“I wish the new host all the luck in the world, and I hope they treat Mursy [Olly Murs], my mixers [Little Mix], and beautiful little Nialler [Niall Horan] with the respect they deserve.”
The news came on the same day that Brits organizers announced that the awards show would return to London’s O2 Arena on February 8th. The show will be shown on ITV as usual, but no word yet on who will succeed Whitehall as host.
Last year’s postponed ceremony drew 4,000 attendees as part of the government’s live events pilot programme, with 2,500 tickets distributed to essential workers in the Greater London area.
Whitehall has built a reputation as a popular and irreverent Brits host over the last four years, becoming one of just seven presenters [including Ant and Dec] to be asked back.
In an oversized ski jacket, he launched the 2018 proceedings with a joke about spoof grime singer Big Shaq’s Man’s Not Hot. Also, he mocked Ed Sheeran, stating he was “invited on the condition that he doesn’t perform Galway Girl.”
He confessed he had a man crush on Dua Lipa’s father the following year, suggesting they exchange fathers. He quipped, “You have a silver fox, but mine is more of a white walker.”
He introduced Billie Eilish as “the only adolescent in the planet who makes Greta Thunberg look lazy” in 2020, before spilling tequila on Harry Styles’ yellow suit.
Little Mix were “so in-sync they can even harmonise their pregnancies,” he said last year, adding that Jade Thirlwall, the only band member who wasn’t pregnant at the time, was now “drinking for three.”
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, a virtual Pink, and the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Choir collaborated at the event’s conclusion. “A massive big up to the important personnel here tonight, and around the country,” Whitehall said.
“We’ll never be able to express our gratitude to you guys enough,” he stated.