Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, Getty Images

What a night it has been.

Today's TikTok Awards UK and Ireland brought us high energy, jaw-dropping looks and just the right amount of chaos.

Over the last few hours, we saw creators with platforms ranging from a few thousand to millions get their flowers.

They started with a ring light and a dream and are now household names on For You pages across the country - and the world.

The carpet has more than doubled in length since last year, our culture reporter Yasmin Rufo tells me, which is testament to how TikTok in the UK and Ireland is ever growing

Along with witnessing those 12 wins - which crowned fashionistas, foodies and funny comedians - we got to speak to the people who have kept us scrolling.

With the ceremony over, it's now time for attendees to enjoy the afterparty.

Signing off from the venue — where my ears are still ringing, and my feet are indefinitely broken. See you next year!

Here's the winners list in full:

• Books and Learning Creator of the Year - Good Ol’ Gab
• Travel Creator of the Year - Phil Carr
• Food Creator of the Year - Foody Fella
• Fashion and Beauty Creator of the Year - Nikki Lilly
• Storyteller of the Year - Morgan M-James
• Video of the Year - Bemi Orojuogun, better known as Bus Aunty
• Entertainment Creator of the Year - Charley Marlowe
• Artist of the Year - Olivia Dean
• Rising Star - Dose Of Joy
• Voice for Change - Tola and Kevin
• Sports Creator of the Year - Lissie Mackintosh
• Creator of the Year - Max Klymenko

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, Nabiha Ahmed/BBC

"I haven't slept in four days!" Lissie Mackintosh tells me whilst holding back tears.

"To represent girls in a male-dominated world is incredible."

She was one of two women nominated in the Sports Creator of the Year category.

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, Nabiha Ahmed/BBC

Joy Anokwuru didn't even realise she won Rising Star. "I recently changed my TikTok handle so when they called out my name I was like, who is that?"

After crying off her makeup and re-applying, she joins me on the red carpet. "I feel like the smallest content creator here so this means everything."

Her plus one interjects, to tell her the family group chat is "popping off".

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, Nabiha Ahmed/BBC

Tola Andu, Kevin's mum, is in tears on the red carpet following their win in the Voice for Change category.

"We are so grateful," she tells journalists. "Thank you!" Kevin says.

As she and Kevin accepted their award earlier, Tola recounted the "isolation" she felt when her son was first diagnosed with autism 16 years ago - as she thanked the community for the support they've shown them on TikTok.

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

"LET'S GOOOO!" says Max Klymenko following his Creator of the Year win.

He thanks his grandma in Ukraine, who has no electricity to follow along live.

"I'm calling her right after this," he says. "Everything you see when you scroll on the toilet or in bed...I spend hours to make this content for you."

When accepting the award, he told the audience how his grandma used to log-in from different TikTok accounts so it looked like he had more views.

With 8.5 million followers, something tells me he doesn't need that extra view anymore.

Image source, Nabiha Ahmed/BBC

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

"I want to thank the Academy and the Foreign Press Association," Charley Marlowe jokingly says after winning Entertainment Creator of the Year.

But really...she says she'd like to thank "every gay icon across the world".

"Without them I am nothing," she says. Charley tells me she'll be buying her award its very own mantelpiece.

"I don't get people who just say they'll put it in the bathroom."

The bag asks her what her favourite recently-watched TikTok is. It is gossip which she "shan't reveal", she says, but wants you to know it led her down a rabbit hole about people she doesn't even know.

Image source, Getty Images

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, BBC/Nabiha Ahmed

Morgan M-James, winner of Storyteller of the Year, tells me how TikTok has "genuinely changed" his life.

"I wouldn't be here without my following," he says.

My bag asks him which of his own TikToks has been his favourite this year.

His answer? "Flying to the Love Island villa and being pied by presenter Maya Jama. Not many people can claim that."

Image source, BBC/Lizzie Asante

What better way to end the ceremony than a live performance of Rizzle Kicks classic Mama Do the Hump.

Now those twelve awards have been announced, we're heading back to the red carpet - stick with us.

The man behind the “career ladder” series climbs to the top in this category.

Max Klymenko has created hundreds of videos, where he challenges strangers to stand on a ladder whilst attempting to guess their profession.

"Thank you to my audience," he says. "I want to thank my parents for giving birth to me. My grandma, who was the first one to watch my videos."

He teases the audience about an announcement - before saying his team will be launching a world tour in 2026.

Klymenko adds: "I'm an immigrant in this country, I feel like right now getting this award is super special to me. For your own individual career ladders, nothing is out of reach. Slava Ukraini."

The former lawyer says his series is the most popular non-animated show in the world.

The nominees for Creator of the Year are:

• Sarel
• Max Klymenko
• The Spud Brothers
• Miriam Mullins
• George Clarke
• Max Balegde

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, BBC/Nabiha Ahmed

"AAAAA!" screams Bus Aunty as she stomps on the red carpet with her award.

"I am overwhelmed and so grateful," says Bemi Orojuogun AKA Bus Aunty.

She thanked TfL in her speech - adding, "I love London buses". "It's not even a joke. When I first came to the country, it was the only thing that allowed me to see London."

"Don't allow your age to stop you," she tells people who are hoping to start their own TikTok journey

Sports presenter and content creator Lissie Mackintosh has built a huge audience since launching her social media career.

She regularly interviews F1’s biggest stars, including Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc - often even persuading them to participate in a few TikTok dances.

Her success landed her a place in the Forbes 30 under 30 Sports & Games list for 2025.

"I feel like I'm going to cry," she says, saying her win shows women can make it in the sporting world. "We need more of them."

Back to the nominations, here's who's looking to nab the top sporting prize:

• Cal Luke Traquair
• Freda_ayy
• The Rugby Trainer
• Lissie Mackintosh
• Jim Flano
• Caolán Ward (Crayonward)

Nabiha Ahmed
Reporting from the TikTok awards

Image source, BBC/Nabiha Ahmed

It's not something I thought I'd work towards, says food category winner Kieran Monlouis, aka Foody Fella.

He has become known on TikTok for his car series. "Find a niche, be consistent and find something people warm to," he tells people who want the secret to his foodie success.

He thanks his girlfriend, who he says stood in the rain and scorching heat around the world whilst he acquired the goods for his videos.

He'll celebrate by going out to eat. Who would have thought?

Tola and Kevin Andu are the mother-son duo behind the TikTok account raisingkevin_, winning in the Voice for Change category.

They post candid videos of what it’s like to raise a young adult with autism, striving to create content that raises awareness and promotes acceptance.

Tola thanks everyone for their support, saying that having a "community of amazing people who love Kevin and support him...is amazing".

The awards are coming in thick and fast now, so here's a look at the nominees for the next category:

• Cheethams With Dreams
• Rob Madge
• Raising Kevin
• Aghogho
• Blindtobes
• Belle Woghirenn

She’s spilled the tea, brought us the latest showbiz news, interviewed stars like Cynthia Erivo and Margot Robbie and even had Austin Butler tell her she has a beautiful voice.

Self-branded as the “internet’s favourite entertainment journo,” Joy Anokwuru takes home TikTok’s Rising Star Award.

"I quit my job literally one year ago. They told me I wasn't good enough...and then I was like I'm gonna make content, because I believe in myself," she tells the crowd.

"And to think that I won it one year later!"

Now, for the TikTok stars of tomorrow, the nominees for the rising star award are:

• Dose Of Joy
• Gully Singh
• Rugby Nause
• Talk Of The Townsends
• DawsOnScreen
• Great British Architecture

Olivia Dean’s voice has quickly become one of the most notorious sounds on TikTok.

The 26-year-old’s summer single Man I Need has already amassed over one million uses on the app.

Her pop-soul anthem has been used as a soundtrack to everything from pet videos, day-in-the-life vlogs, and even BTS shots from viral TV show, The Summer I Turned Pretty.

Unfortunately, Olivia is not attending the ceremony but guests are treated to a video playing tribute to her vocal skills.