Mo Gilligan steps down from The BRIT Awards hosting role after two years

Mo shared a statement on Instagram

Author: Charlotte RoszkoPublished 29th Nov 2023

Mo Gilligan has revealed that he has stepped down from hosting The BRIT Awards after two years. The 35-year-old comedian first presented the iconic awards ceremony in 2022, after taking over from Jack Whitehall, who had hosted the show for four years.

Sharing a statement on his Instagram page, Mo said: ‘I’ve had the most incredible time working on The Brits but unfortunately, as I’ll be in the US for my first World Tour next spring, I’m so sorry to say I’ll be stepping down from hosting duties for 2024 and handing over the baton.

'It’s been phenomenal to work on this iconic event. I’ve loved getting to know all the remarkable people who run The Brit Trust and the outstanding Brit School. The tireless work you do improves lives through the power of music and the creative arts is sensational and I promise to continue supporting wherever I can.

Mo continued: 'Thank you to ITV for making a young man’s dream come true and to all the brilliant performers, guests, production team and most importantly, the viewers at home for all your amazing support. It's been an honour. See you on Tour!'

In a post shared to his Instagram Story, Mo also included a tweet from October 2011, which read: 'In 2013 I need to host the #MOBO's or #TheBritAwards Fingers Crossed.'

A spokesperson for The BRIT Awards said: 'The Brits are incredibly proud of Mo hosting the awards for the last two years, he is an exceptional entertainer who is going from strength to strength in his career, and we thank him for delivering two brilliant shows for us.

'The live awards show is always evolving, and we are excited to welcome someone new to the helm for 2024, with more details to be announced at a later date.'

Take a look back at the winners from The BRIT Awards 2023:

RISING STAR

WINNER: FLO
When it was announced that they had won, FLO said: "From growing up watching the BRITs, to finding each other and forming FLO, releasing our first body of work in 2022 and winning a BRIT award in the same year!! We are so shocked and grateful. We are the first group to win the BRITs Rising Star! We've just made history and couldn't have done it without our wonderful fans and supportive families. It's truly a dream come true. We feel so empowered creating the music we love and we hope others feel that too."

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

WINNER: DAVID GUETTA
David Guetta said of the award: "I am very honoured to receive Producer of the Year. I have always felt a strong connection to British music and culture. The UK music scene is full of world class artists and producers so to be recognised like this means a lot to me. Thank you so much!"

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

WINNER: KID HARPOON
Kid Harpoon co-wrote and co-produced Harry Styles' 'Harry's House'. He said: "To be acknowledged by the BRITs this year for songwriting, a beautiful and complex craft, is unbelievable. It's a dream come true to create for a living, I cannot wait to celebrate with everyone on Saturday."

HIP HOP, GRIME, RAP ACT

WINNER: AITCH
Aitch said: "First of all I just want to big up the fans for voting, of course thank you very much.


"I think that's the main reason I do it, to set examples, to make people know that, it's possible no matter where you're from and just because 5 million people haven't done it before you. So yeah big up everyone."
NOMINEES
Central Cee
Dave
Loyle Carner
Stormzy

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR

WINNER: BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé: "Thank you so much for this incredible recognition, I would like to say thank you to all my fans out there in Britain for your continued support over the years and the renaissance begins. I'll see y'all on tour, thank you so much for this honour."
NOMINEES
Burna Boy
Kendrick Lamar
Lizzo
Taylor Swift

DANCE ACT - supported by KISS FM

WINNER: BECKY HILL
Becky said: "The biggest thanks of all has to go to my fans who for another year have helped me win a BRIT Award and imposter syndrome kicked straight in when the nominees were announced.
"I was so scared and when I read all their comments I was so touched, so thank you so much. Thank you!"
NOMINEES
Bonobo
Calvin Harris
Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal
Fred Again...

POP / R&B ACT

WINNER: HARRY STYLES
Harry Styles addressed the crowd: "Thank you so, so much for this. First of all, I know this was a fan voted award, so to all my friends who voted thank you. I have so many wonderful memories of the BRITs so thank you for another one and it is so good to be home. Thank you so, so much."
NOMINEES
Cat Burns
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
Sam Smith

BEST NEW ARTIST

WINNER: WET LEG
The winners of the Best New Artist said: "That rock 'N' roll, it just won't go away, it might hibernate from time to time, and sink back into the swamp. No, but also it's nice, thank you so much. It's really cool to be doing this on an indie label, shout out Domino."
NOMINEES
Kojey Radical
Mimi Webb
Rina Sawayama
Sam Ryder

ARTIST OF THE YEAR WITH YOUTUBE SHORTS

WINNER: HARRY STYLES
Harry thanked his family as well as saying: "Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn, thank you so much. I'm really really grateful and I'm very aware of my privilege up here tonight, so this award is for Rina, Charlie, Florence, Mabel and Becky. Thank you so much."
NOMINEES
Central Cee
Fred again..
George Ezra
Stormzy

INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

WINNER: FONTAINES D.C.
Unable to attend, they said: "Thanks for voting us Best International Group, sorry we couldn't be there, we're in Australia currently. We sent our best man, Carlos, so hopefully he's behaving himself."
NOMINEES
Blackpink
Drake & 21 Savage
First Aid Kit
Gabriels

GROUP OF THE YEAR

WINNER: WET LEG
For their second acceptance speech of the night, Wet Leg said: "They build smooth ships, they build big ships, but they don't build friendships.
"This is really cool, thanks very much."
NOMINEES
The 1975
Arctic Monkeys
Bad Boy Chiller Crew
Nova Twins

INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR

WINNER: BEYONCÉ - 'BREAK MY SOUL'
Beyoncé accepted her second award saying: "Thank you, thank you so much for loving 'Break My Soul', the only intention for this song was to dance so thank y'all for joining this dance of freedom and individuality. I'd like to give a special thank you to The-Dream for co-creating this song with me, I hope y'all having a beautiful night. God bless you and see you all soon."
NOMINEES
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha - 'I'm Good (Blue)'
Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran - 'Peru'
Gaitan / Castillo / Adassa / Feliz - 'We Don't Talk About Bruno'
Gayle - 'abcdefu'
Jack Harlow - 'First Class'
Lizzo - 'About Damn Time'
Lost Frequencies / Calum Scott - 'Where Are You Now'
OneRepublic - 'I Ain't Worried'
Taylor Swift - 'Anti-Hero'

ALTERNATIVE / ROCK ACT supported by Absolute Radio

WINNER: THE 1975
The 1975 took to the stage to accept their award saying: "Thank you so much, this is the first BRIT that we've won that has been voted by the fans so that means a lot, thank you very much."
Lead singer Matt Healy then went on to thank their team for all their support for the band.
NOMINEES
Arctic Monkeys
Nova Twins
Tom Grennan
Wet Leg

SONG OF THE YEAR

WINNER: HARRY STYLES - 'AS IT WAS'
As he accepted his third award of the night, Harry greeted the crowd with a cheery "Hello!". He continued: "This album and this song was the most fun I've ever had making music. I want to thank Rob Stringer for lending me his house to record this in, write it in.
"I want to thank Tom and Tyler and everyone, all my friends who support me. Thank you to everyone who listened and thank you Lewis!"
NOMINEES
Aitch / Ashanti - 'Baby'
Cat Burns - 'Go'
Dave - 'Starlight'
Ed Sheeran & Elton John - 'Merry Christmas'
Eliza Rose / Interplanetary Criminal - 'B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)'
George Ezra - 'Green Green Grass'
Lewis Capaldi - 'Forget Me'
LF System - 'Afraid To Feel'
Sam Smith & Kim Petras - 'Unholy'

MASTERCARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR

WINNER: HARRY STYLES - 'HARRY'S HOUSE'
For his final acceptance speech, Harry said: "There's literally no one I love more in the world than Stanley Tucci (who presented the award). Thank you so much, this night has been really, really special to me and I will never forget it.
"Thank you for the welcome home, I will never forget it. I am so proud to be a British artist out in the world and here celebrating British artists."
NOMINEES
The 1975 - 'Being Funny In A Foreign Language'
Wet Leg - 'Wet Leg'
Stormzy - 'This Is What I Mean'
Fred again.. - 'Actual Life 3 (January 1 - September 9 2022)'

The BRIT Awards 2024 will take place on Saturday 2nd March 2024. There will be a new addition to the genre awards categories, in the form of an R&B genre award, allowing UK R&B artists to be recognised for their talents. The new award joins the other genre categories, which are Alternative/Rock, Dance, Pop and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap.

Next year's host is currently yet to be revealed.

Now read:

2024 BRIT Award trophy design revealed along with change to categories

A look back at the red carpet outfits from The BRIT Awards 2023

Relive The BRIT Awards 2023 performances

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