Olivia Dean breaks down in tears at Brit Awards as she takes home FOUR major gongs

OLIVIA Dean broke down in tears as she took home FOUR awards at this year’s Brit Awards.

Tonight’s ceremony proved to be an emotional one full of tributes to stars lost, and a celebration of the biggest up and coming artists in the industry – with one or two surprises thrown in.

With Jack Whitehall hosting, when his jokes weren’t being cut from transmission, guided the ceremony through a string of performances and awards presented by the biggest and best in the industry.

But Olivia Dean proved to be the showstopper – nominated for five awards, taking home four, and performing her smash hit Man I Need on stage as well.

As she was announced the winner of Artist of the Year – beating out Self Esteem, Lily Allen, Lola Young, PinkPantheress, JADE, Little Simz, Sam Fender, Fred Again and Dave – the blushing songstress took to the stage and struggled to speak.

She then thanked her team for their unwavering support throughout her career to date, and nodded to her own education at the Brits School that took her to international stardom after a 10-year career to date.

The star also won Single of the Year, the first award of the night, alongside Sam Fender for their single ‘Rein It In’.

She also took home Best Pop Act, before ending the night with the sought after Album of the Year for her release, The Art of Loving.

Screaming in joy as she recieved the award on stage, she said: “Making this album has changed my life.

“I feel so proud to have made it and to have worked with everyone that I did on it. Max Bastian, Zack, thank you for believing in me…”

Breaking down in tears again, she added: “This album is just about love and loving each other in a world that feels loveless right now. So… I don’t know. Thank you, bye!”

She beat out Sam Fender’s ‘People Watching’, Wolf Alice’s ‘The Clearing’, Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ and Dave’s ‘The Boy Who Played The Harp’.

The Brit Awards As It Happened

For the first time ever in the show’s 50-year history, the Brits moved out of London to Co-Op Arena in Manchester.

Tonight’s ceremony opened with Harry Styles marking his return to the stage with a performance of his new single Aperture from his upcoming album, Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally.

Jack Whitehall returned to hosting duties for a sixth time, with a series of sketches throughout the night alongside Harry.

Robbie Williams announced the first award for Song Of The Year – with Sam Fender and Olivia Dean taking home the first award for the night for their collaborative single ‘Rein It In’.

It was followed up by HUNTR/X performing their smash hit Golden from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, and Olivia Dean performing ‘Man I Need’.

Jack spoke from the audience standing pit, bringing an old-school ‘Madchester’ raver to dance and teach the kids, students at the Brit School, some 90s history.

Happy Mondays stars Bez and Shaun Ryder then took to the stage to present Group Of The Year, which was awarded to Wolf Alice.

They dedicated the award to those who those who supported their early years as a band, in particular grass roots venues that are fighting to be kept open due to underfunding.

After an ad break, Raye performed her hit single ‘Where Is My Husband!’ before doing into new single, ‘Nightingale Lane’, which she noted was “about a guy that didn’t give her a ring, which was a shame”.

As the show continued, Jack mingled with the stars at their tables, but said a joke considered unsuitable for airing – with the show playing out a muzzled noise instead.

Myles Smith then took to the stage to present Breakthrough Artist, which went to Lola Young.

Lola, who switched from her red carpet outfit, into a denim jumpsuit awkwardly read a speech out from her phone, where she stated that she considered music a “safe haven” when the world is difficult, praising artists who wear their heart on their sleeve.

Darts champion Luke Littler and I’m a Celeb star Angry Ginge then took to the stage to present an award – with Angry Ginge also making a shocking comment that was seemed unsuitable for transmission and muzzed out.

They presented International Song of the Year to Rosé and Bruno Mars’ addictive pop track, ‘APT‘.

Rosé appeared without Bruno Mars, paying tribute to him as one of the first to thank, before going on to thank those that made the track possible.

After another risky joke, Rosália took to the stage for a performance of Berghain alongside a choir and a surprise appearance from Icelandic singing legend Bjork.

When Cat Burns appeared on stage to deliver the results of Best International Group of the Year, winning band Geese’s drummer Max Bassin took to the stage with his speech bleeped out as he declared “Free Palestine, F**k Ice.”

After the break, Alex Warren performed on stage, singing his hit ‘Ordinary’ with a special appearance from James Blunt.

Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream appeared on stage to hand the achievement of Songwriter of the Year to Noel Gallagher.

His appearance came with a standing ovation, with his music being noted as “continuing to shape the musical landscape”.

Appearing in front of a crowd at his hometown, he thanked his brother, Liam, as well as the rest of his bandmates for bringing the song to life because “without them, I’d just be a singer/songwriter, and noone gives a s**t about a singer/songwriter”.

Skepta then took to the stage to present Mark Ronson with the Outstanding Contribution to Music award – and he took the moment to commemorate Amy Winehouse, with whom he made Back to Black with nearly 20 years ago to the day.

“The music I made with Amy is the reason any of [the artists he’s worked with] know who I am anyway,” he said. “I’ll always treasure her talent and our bond always”.

He was took to the stage with a megamix of some of his biggest hits – with a voice recording of Amy Winehouse making a special feature, and a recording to perform their hit Back to Black.

Continuing his tribute to Amy, Mark performed Valerie alongside her band, and encouraged the audience to join in, before moving into Uptown Funk.

Dua Lipa then made a surprise appearance, descending from the city on a glitterball for her hit song Dance The Night Away from The Barbie Movie.

Rosália took home the International Artist of the Year, and was handed the trophy by JADE and Tems.

She encouraged the audience to “celebrate otherness” whether that be culture or languages, before giving a special mention to her mum.

Tim Burgess from The Charlatans took to the stage to pay tribute to the late Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, “who changed music and inspired many generations ahead of him, with the songs he recorded being his legacy”.

The In Memoriam played shortly afterwards, paying tribute to those who died in the music industry.

Maya Jama and James Blunt then awarded Artist of the Year to Olivia Dean.

A rundown of other awards then played, revealing the winners of Alternative/Rock Act (Sam Fender), Pop Act (Olivia Dean), HipHop/Grime (Dave), R&B Act (Salt), Dance Act (Fred Again/Skepta/PlaqueBoyMax).

Jeff Goldblum ended the awards to present the biggest award of the night, Album Of The Year, to Olivia Dean for ‘The Art of Loving’.

A tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, who posthumously won this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, ended the ceremony, with Robbie Williams leading a performance of his songs alongside his former bandmates and friends.

The BRIT Awards is available now to stream on ITVX.