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Meeting to decide the winners of the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, Michael Sheen sat alongside long-time host Carol Vorderman MBE, broadcaster Kate Garraway, Olympian Dame Denise Lewis, and red carpet hosts GK Barry and Pete Wicks for an intensely emotional day of debate
Overcome with emotion as he fought back tears, actor Michael Sheen wasn’t acting. "Thank God for these people,” he exclaimed, as judges debated the extraordinary Pride of Britain nominees.
The star of Good Omens continued: "I’m a passionate judge. It’s very emotional and quite overwhelming.” He and other celebrity judges met at London’s Grosvenor Hotel last week to decide the winners of the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises, which highlight the inspirational feats of ordinary people.
He was joined by the Awards’ long-time presenter Carol Vorderman MBE, broadcaster Kate Garraway, Olympian Dame Denise Lewis, and Pride of Britain red carpet hosts GK Barry and Pete Wicks.
Chairing the impassioned debate was Mirror editor-in-chief Chloe Hubbard. The celebrities were joined by experts including Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson and Professor Mumtaz Patel, President of the Royal College of Physicians.
Discussing the shortlist of heroes and heroines compiled from thousands of public nominations, Grace Keeling, aka GK Barry, admitted: "The biggest risk I’ve ever taken is going in the pool after fake tanning on holiday. I am not a tough judge. I’m extremely quiet, but it’s my third year, so I’m getting more confident.”
Pete Wicks, TV personality and creator of podcast Man Made, said: "One thing that stands out with the nominees is their vulnerability and their ability to look beyond themselves. All of them deserve to win, especially all the kids.”
Carol Vorderman is gearing up to host her 27th annual Awards this year, along with co-host Ashley Banjo, who has previously joked about her infamous pre-Awards nap. She said: "I have a natural thing when there’s something really big. About two hours before, I fall asleep for half an hour.”
One of the things she loves about Pride of Britain is how it steers us away from focusing on bad news. She said: "Pride of Britain gives us all an opportunity to go, 'Hang on a second, let’s take a breath for a couple of hours and witness these very real people who are doing very real things’.
"They’re brave, they’re determined, or it could be that they’re just kind and happy people who fill the room with a smile. You’re reminded about how many good people there are in this fabulous country that we live in.”
Kate Garraway, co-anchor of ITV ’s Good Morning Britain, has spoken candidly about her late husband Derek Draper ’s four-year battle with Covid, which only ended with his death in 2024.
She said: "My family situation makes me reflect when I hear about these nominees. It does inspire you to keep going. Once, when Derek was in hospital, a woman passed me a napkin in the hospital cafe with a kind message of thanks and support. Those little moments from strangers, or somebody just saying 'are you okay?’ when you feel at the end of your tether can make all the difference. It might just be enough to turn their day around... it’s making me cry just thinking about it.”
Michael, who is also a producer and social activist, added: "The inspiration of Pride of Britain is that many people have gone through something really tragic, really difficult. Instead of letting it break them, they’ve turned that into being something really positive to help other people. This shows that there is far more good in the world than not.”
Heptathlete Denise Lewis said: "I trained to be an athlete, these people are reacting to scenarios where there is no time to think and they want to help others.
"Having been part of this judging, attending the awards is amazing – the uplifting nature of the awards and the magic in the faces of the winners.”
Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson, new to the panel this year, said after the intense debates: "That was harder than I expected. When you look at the nominations, they’re all extraordinary quality and you are distinguishing between the inspirational, the brilliant, and the truly excellent. Courageous people are people who, when given a choice, make a conscious decision to do something which quite often other people would decide not to do... truly extraordinary.”
The Awards celebrate amazing achievements of people of all ages, from children of courage to lifesaving emergency workers, inspirational fundraisers and people who simply make the world a better place, both in local communities and on a national or even global scale.
Also on the panel were Paul Ludlow, President of P&O Cruises, Emma Gormley, managing director of daytime at ITV studios, Sophie Robinson, Director of Events & Live Experiences at the Mirror’s parent company, Reach plc and Pride of Britain editorial director Shiraz Lalani. Emma Gormley, who finds incredible people to appear on daytime shows every day, was nonetheless extremely moved by the Pride of Britain nominees. She said: "All of those stories gave me goosebumps. It’s about extraordinary, amazing everyday people doing extraordinary things and generally doing them in their own time and quietly, without any fuss.”
The Mirror’s editor-in-chief Chloe Hubbard said: "The judges all brought some really interesting perspectives and they have chosen some incredible winners.
“It’s the emotion that makes these people’s experiences stand out from the others. When you’re dealing with news every day you can quite easily become desensitised, but our extraordinary winners and their incredible stories really moved me.”
Influencer GK, who will be doing red carpet interviews, added: "It’s my favourite night of the year.”
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