Mr Gay UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mr Gay UK is a British annual beauty contest for gay men, with regional heats held in gay nightclubs with a grand final usually at a gay venue. The contests is owned and promoted by gay entrepreneur Terry George.
It began in 1982 as "Mr Hardware" (named after a fragrance) designed to promote a gay mail order company. The event, held in the Heaven nightclub was filmed by the BBC — as part of a documentary entitled Something For the Ladies.
In 1984 the competition name was changed to Mr Gay UK.[1][2] Since then, the event has been recorded for video release (1993), featured on a Channel 4 series, Passengers (1994) and the event itself was broadcast on Channel Five in 1998 and 1999.
Contents |
[edit] Contestants
| Year | Mr Gay UK Winner |
| 2007 | Daniel Broughton[3] (Mr Gay Blackpool) |
| 2006 | Mark Carter (Mr Gay Birmingham, a policeman)[4] |
| 2005 | Richard Carr (Mr Gay Birmingham) |
| 2004 | Mark Roberts (Mr Gay Walsall, a plasterer) |
| 2003 | Jarrod Batchelor (Isle of Wight)[5] |
| 2002 | Rob Conn (Bristol, IT manager)[6] |
| 2001 | Carl Austin |
| 2000 | Harry French (Glasgow, a lifeguard) |
| 1999 | Mark Ledsham |
| 1998 | Ben Harris |
| 1997 | Shaun McVeigh |
| 1996 | Roy Fairhurst |
| 1995 | Lance Trimble |
| 1994 | David Jackson |
| 1993 | Anthony Morley |
Since 2005, the winner has gone on to represent the UK in Mr Gay Europe.
On the 2nd of May 2008, it was reported that the first ever winner of Mr Gay UK (in its current format) Anthony Morley, was being held on remand for the murder of an advertising executive. It is believed that Morley had also removed a section of his victim's leg and was preparing to cook the flesh. Morley later entered a Kebab house in the Harehills area of Leeds, covered in blood and told the Staff that he was a murderer and to call the police. The victim was a 33 year old man who worked for the gay lifestyle magazine 'Bent'.[7]
[edit] Hosts
Presenters have included Lily Savage, Jason Donovan, Mark Little, Robbie Williams, Jane McDonald and Terry George., Richard Newman, Nadia Almada, Brian Dowling and Philip Olivier and judges have included Jean Paul Gaultier, Michael Cashman, Danny La Rue, Scott Neal, Lea Walker, Jonathan Kerrigan, Su Pollard and Christopher Biggins. In 2007, the presenters were Andy Scott-Lee and his wife Michelle Heaton.[1] The judges were Shahbaz from Big Brother 2006, James Sutton of Hollyoaks, Adam Lowe of Bent magazine and The Sheilas of Sheila's Wheels. The event was hosted at Flamingo's nightclub in Blackpool, where Daniel Broughton (also from Blackpool) won.
Future porn star Mark Anthony was a finalist in 1993.[8] Jarrold Batchelor, winner of the 2003 contest, went on to appear in the Channel 4 reality series, The Games.[1] In 2006, police officer Mark Carter made national headlines when he won the competition.[4][9][10]
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c Pidd, Helen. "Soldiers and a sailor in fight to be Mr Gay UK", The Guardian, 2007-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ Richard Conrad Glover. "Gay UK Alive And Kicking", Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), 1988-09-30, p. 15.
- ^ Daniel Broughton official website. danielbroughton.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ a b Kelly, Tom (2006-10-01). PC strips off uniform to become Mr Gay UK. The Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
- ^ Sam Mann. "Jolie Good Fun At The Movies, A Gay Time With The Boys and a Rockin' Awards Do", The Mirror, 2003-08-29, p. 3.
- ^ "Bristol man is named Mr Gay UK after 'joke' entry", Bristol Evening Post, 2002-09-11, p. 4.
- ^ Rashid Razaq. "First Winner Of The Mr Gay UK Contest Has Been Charged With Murder", The Evening Standard (London), 2008-05-02.
- ^ Mr Gay UK Heat Winners 1993. Mr Gay UK website. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ Perrie, Robin (2006-10-02). Beat cop voted Mr Gay UK. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ PC Carter, UK Mr Gay, Triumphs at International Mr Gay Contest. The Press Dispensary (2008-01-22). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
