 2008 sees the Mr Gay UK competition celebrate its 16th anniversary and in those years literally thousands of brave souls have promenaded, preened or nervously paraded around in their underwear at heats in venues all around the country. The event has become an established part of the gay calendar and each year draws more and more people who have the desire to reach the final, the hope to walk away with the cash prize and more especially… the title.
“The place was heaving. It was so packed that we couldn’t get the judges to their seats… we had to pass them over the crowd. Then the poor celebs were squashed in and couldn’t move… even getting bottles of champagne to them was a problem.”
This is how Terry George, who at the time was one of the new owners of the Mr Gay UK brand, remembers that first Grand Final at the Flamingo in Blackpool back in 1993.
The producer of the show, Gordon Hopps, also recalls that first manic event: “Once all the scoring was finished we had organised a room to use and do all the calculations to find out who had won. There were twenty one contestants and about 10 judges… so the logistics were quite immense. Unfortunately… we just couldn’t move through the crowd to the assigned room. So, armed with all the score cards, Stuart Linden, the photographer for the event and I found a side door and let ourselves out. We were right next to a portoloo so that’s where we did all the arithmetic. Not the most salubrious of locations… it smelled awful.”
Eventually, a young lad from Leeds - dressed in leather shorts and a dickie-bow - was declared Mr Gay UK 1993. Anthony Morley became the first holder of the new title and was instantly swept up into a whirlwind of official engagements and photo shoots. Winning the title means different things to different competitors! More recently the organisers have noticed that the main aspiration for becoming Mr Gay UK appears to be the desire to be seen as a positive role model.
Over the years the competition has drawn a huge cross-section of guys keen to take part. There have been; deaf guys, muscle Marys, twinks, teachers, rent boys, porn stars, soldiers, sailors, policemen, actors, businessmen, students, bar boys, PE Instructors, TVs, old, young, fat, thin… all have at least one thing in common… they all identify as being gay. Some even choosing this as the way of ‘coming out’ to family and friends… in the heats everyone is welcome.
Many star names have also been associated with the contest:
Lily Savage, Jason Donovan, Phil Oliver, Graham Norton, Sonya, Jane McDonald, Tim Vincent, Rhonna Cameron, the late Paula Yates are just some of the names who have hosted the final. Sir Ian McKellan, Richard Wilson, Jean Paul Gaultier, Denise Van Outen, Antony Cotton, Danny La Rue, Justin Fashanu and a host of TV and soap stars are just a few of the fabulous people who have acted as celebrity judges.
From that very first show in Blackpool in 1993 (where it was videoed by the Man2Man video company for general release) the final has always attracted attention with Channel 5, two years consecutively, broadcasting the edited highlights in the late 90s and the Living Channel broadcasting it live in 2004. The popularity of the event is still growing, with more venues eager to hold their own heat… and hopefully produce their own winner of Mr Gay UK
What can happen when you win Mr Gay UK?
Our 1998 Winner - Ben Harris later went on to win the TV programme ‘Playing it Straight’ where one luckless girl had to decide who was straight (obvious really) as she chose from a group of horny suitors. She could have won a huge cash prize had she guessed correctly but she chose Ben, the only gay guy left in the group, and because she got it wrong… he walked away with the cash prize.
The 2003 Winner - Jarrod Batchelor went on to jointly win (with Shane from Boyzone) Channel 4’s ‘The Games’ a show, where celebrities competed in various sports events to find an overall champion.
Many of our title holders have been called upon to act as the ‘gay voice’ on a variety of current affairs TV and radio programmes, their opinions and thoughts sought after and respected. Of course appearing on television can take many forms… like when 2004 winner Mark Roberts appeared as a co-presenter on the late night ‘Jules and Lulu’ show or when Mark Ledsham (winner 1999) walked onto the set of ‘Queer As Folk’ as the object of one of the main characters lust… they were, as Gloria Swanson in the movie Sunset Boulevard, “…ready for their close up…”
Mr Gay UK Winners over the past 15 years
2007 - Daniel Broughton
2006 - Mark Carter
2005 - Richard Carr
2004 - Mark Roberts
2003 - Jarrod Batchelor
2002 - Rob Conn
2001 - Carl Austin
2000 - Harry French
1999 - Mark Ledsham
1998 - Ben Harris
1997 - Shaun McVeigh
1996 - Roy Fairhurst
1995 - Lance Trimble
1994 - David Jackson
1993 - Anthony Morley
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