Swifties across Manchester are convinced the pop star will make an appearance at the Co-Op Live
Taylor Swift has been nominated for International Artist of the Year and International Song of the Year at this year’s BRIT Awards(Image: Getty Images)
Jack Whitehall has broken his silence on whether Taylor Swift will be in Manchester for the BRITS 2026 this weekend.
The UK’s biggest music awards show is heading north for the first time this weekend, with the 2026 edition of the ceremony that first took place all the way back in 1977 being held at Manchester’s Co-op Live.
Back on presenting duties is comedian Jack, who has only hosted the awards in London after first landing the gig in 2018. Mo Gilligan, Clara Amfo, Love Island host Maya Jama and Roman Kemp are the only people to have hosted the awards since he first took to The O2 Arena’s stage.
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Part of the magic of the BRITS is that it brings the biggest names in music from both the UK and all around the world to town. The biggest name announced in advance for the ceremony this year is none other than Harry Styles.
Just weeks before he plays the same arena with his ‘One Night Only’ performance, Harry will perform Aperture on live TV for the first time ahead of the release of his new album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Other UK acts announced to be performing are Olivia Dean, Mark Ronson, the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Music, and Wolf Alice.
Representing the rest of the world are HUNTR/X, the singing voices behind the KPop Demon Hunters band, New York artist Sombre and genre-bending Spanish musician Rosalía.
Jack Whitehall is returning to Manchester after attending university in the city(Image: Capital)
However, many Swifties are holding out hope that the American pop superstar will make a surprise appearance at the BRITS. Taylor is nominated for Best International Artist and Best International Song for The Fate of Ophelia from her latest album The Life of a Showgirl.
During an episode of ITV talk show Lorraine last week, showbiz correspondent Ross King sent the rumour mill spinning when he had his say on rumours of potential sightings of the 36-year-old in the UK.
“The word is that she is in the country already, she’s here with her big entourage, they’re already heading up to Manchester where the Brits will be for the first time,” he told Lorraine Kelly.
On Tuesday morning (February 24), presenter Jack appeared on Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby to talk all about the BRIT Awards coming up. During the interview, Jack was told by Chris that if ‘Swiftie turns up’ he needs to be ready.
Jack replied: “Yeah, look I’m not going to confirm if Taylor Swift is going to be there. That’s good journalism. I’m not falling into that trap.
“But yeah chasing your own adventure and every scenario you can, but the reason why people love the BRITs is it is chaos and you cannot plan for everything and stuff does that happen.”
As Jack mentioned, the BRITS are known for their surprises, including Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker’s infamous 1996 stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s performance and the soaking of John Prescott by Chumbawamba drummer Danbert Nobaco in 1998.
Manchester Swifties were left devastated two years ago when Taylor skipped Manchester when going all around the world with The Eras Tour. However, she did bring the 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour to the Etihad Stadium and the 2015 1989 World Tour to the AO Arena.
Listen to Capital Breakfast with Jordan, Chris and Sian 6am – 10am across the UK and on Global Player