And we have out first award - TikTok legend The Pool Guy (aka Miles) has been making oddly satisfying pool cleaning videos since 2020 and has racked up over 15m followers in the process.

Yasmin Rufo
Reporting from the TikTok Awards

The awards have just begun.

Michelle Visage has taken to the stage and is welcoming all the creators who all seem incredibly excited to be here if the cheering and whooping is anything to go by.

Yasmin Rufo
Reporting from the TikTok Awards

Did it even happen if you didn’t take a picture?

It will come as no shock to anyone that the chronically online have to document their evening at the awards, and the red carpet is choc-a-bloc with people waiting to get their picture taken.

We’ve got a great spot to admire all the wonderful and bold outfits that these creatives are wearing and you’d be forgiven for thinking if this was the Met Gala.

If you missed it, we reported earlier how Oxford University chose brain rot as its word of the year - yes, you read that right.

It's a term often used to criticise the culture of mindless scrolling that often results from a TikTok binge.

But, for creator of the year nominee Ayamé Ponder - whose videos occasionally involve the star simply reacting to objects being crushed - it's a compliment, not an insult.

"I love brain rot culture, I love connecting with people," she says. "If I'm a brain rot girly then let's rot together."

Image source, Getty Images

With over 1bn users, it seems like TikTok is here to stay in the social media sphere. It’s an easy to use, and easily accessible app, there’s no denying that.

The Chinese company has been around since 2016, but had a surge in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Was it an easy way for people to stay occupied? Entertained? Short grabby videos certainly do the trick.

Alongside that, it curates your For You feed, so the videos you see are likely going to appeal to you, making you want more. People use it for advice, entertainment, fashion, and also music.

TikTok has been having a huge effect on the music industry in the last few years, as short snippets go viral on the platform, boosting sales and making hits.

Many artists are now discovered this way, and release snippets of new songs on the app.

• TikTok: The story of a social media giant

Katie Kennedy - thehistorygossip on TikTok - started uploading her videos just over a year ago, in the hope of finding something fun to do while writing her university dissertation.

Katie's channel now has 546,000 followers, and she's up for the education creator of the year award tonight.

At first, she says "I blocked everyone, because it's just embarrassing at first putting videos out there".

"I grew up on Horrible Histories and stuff like that," she reflects. "History can be fun; it's not just dates and politics... people really respond to that and I'm very grateful."

Harry Fell
Reporting from the TikTok Awards

There's champagne, evening dress and a red carpet - but you won’t recognise the nominees from TV or film.

The stars tonight are content creators - they have millions of followers online - and are here for the inaugural TikTok Awards UK and Ireland.

The music is loud, the selfies are snapping and the mood is celebratory.

Image source, Getty Images

While tonight is about celebrating the success of some of the UK’s biggest creators, there have long been rumours that the app might be banned altogether in certain countries.

The app - which has 175 million monthly active users across Europe - is currently owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company.

This has led US lawmakers to ask questions about the security of users’ data on the platform, as well as challenging the parent company’s links to the Chinese government.

TikTok insists it would not provide foreign user data to the Chinese government, but some lawmakers from both US political parties have supported a law that will see the app banned unless ByteDance agrees to sell to a non-Chinese company.

The UK government and Parliament banned TikTok from staff work devices in 2023, as has the European Commission.

• Read more about where the app is banned

Benjy, known as benjykusi on TikTok, says he's a "professional yapper" and loves to break down difficult concepts on the app.

As an inclusion and wellbeing consultant by trade, he started making content online to discuss anti-racism and LGBTIQA+ issues.

"There are so many people on TikTok who want to have these important conversations and drive positive change and see a better world," he says.

"I'm really proud to be part of that community."

Nicholas Flannery takes to the red carpet now - he's famous for creating movie parodies that reimagine stereotypical scenarios.

Fans will be used to seeing the TikTok star donning a dress and heels, as he recreates movie characters, and he admits that many expected to see him in a similar outfit this evening.

Nicolas holds a law degree, and he says that if it weren't for his millions of monthly viewers, he'd likely be "in a horrible office under horrible fluorescent lighting".

He says it's "great to be recognised" by TikTok tonight.

Image source, Getty Images

This edition of the TikTok awards celebrates content creators from the UK and Ireland with a glitzy event in White City, London.

This is the first edition of the UK and Ireland awards, but there’s already others in America and Australia and this year alone there will be 20 awards shows globally.

TikTok chose a shortlist, which is then decided by a public vote. There’s 12 awards up for grabs, ranging from sports creator of the year to video of the year.

TV personality Michelle Visage will host the ceremony, and TikTokers Charley Marlow and Coco Sarel will host the red carpet. There will also be performances from the likes of the Sugababes.

"I don't understand any of it," Teresa Barnett laughs when asked how she feels about taking a walk down the red carpet.

She's nominated - along with her husband Michael - for starring in their son James' TikTok series makemeaoffer.

Similarly bewildered, James explains how he started randomly capturing moments with his parents for TikTok, with view numbers on the videos escalating rapidly each time.

"It has just resonated," James says. "I think it's the authenticity; it's the fact that my parents are sort of anti-influencers."

Tonight, the 80-somethings are hoping to win the award for video of the year.

Image source, WireImages

The Aussie version of the TikTok awards took place on 27 November, hosted by wildlife expert Robert Irwin. It was a glam affair, with a pink carpet and internet stars dressed to the nines.

There wasn’t the best reception online, with many labelling the event "cringe", but that didn’t stop floods of videos from behind-the-scenes landing on the app.

A video also went viral, where influencers were asked if their job was hard, splitting opinions between viewers and creators. It came at the same time that the Australian government announced its ban on social media for under 16s, but that seemed to be left out of the conversation on the night.

The coveted Creator of the Year award went to 23-year-old Bride Drake. Let’s see if the UK can match up to the glamour, and the drama.

We've heard from our first red carpet guest and it's Zainab Jiwa - known on the app as Zeewhatidid.

The TikTok presenter and artist tells our reporter Yasmin that she never dreamed of becoming a content creator, but found that the accessibility of the platform inspired her to pursue a career in the arts.

Now, she has over 500,000 followers and explains that tonight's awards are a good opportunity to recognise hard work.

"Creators are first and foremost storytellers," she says. "It's 500 different jobs in one... it is a lot of work, it's not easy, but it's something I enjoy so I don't say it's hard either."

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Melissa McFarlane, head of operations for TikTok UK, Ireland & Nordics, says the TikTok awards celebrate everything from "science experts shining a light on STEM subjects, to literature lovers sharing their favourite book recommendations".

“When you take a step back and think about the impact TikTok communities are having on reading, on the way we cook, even on the way we learn, it really is significant and deserves to be recognised; especially when most creators are just creative individuals with a passion," she adds.

"Their contribution goes well beyond just 'influence.'"

American singer and TV personality Michelle Visage has arrived to host tonight's ceremony, telling the BBC that TikTok is "everybody's guilty pleasure".

Asked why TikTok creators should be recognised with awards, Visage says "actors and singers get recognised, why wouldn't content creators? They deserve it".

Imogen James
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

If you’re like me, in your 20s, scrolling through TikTok before bed almost becomes an exercise of jealousy, as I see creators buying luxury after luxury.

So how can they afford it from making minute-long videos online?

Creator rewards programme

For eligible creators, this is how they get paid by TikTok for the videos the make. You have to be over 18, have at least 10,000 followers, at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, post original content, have a personal account and post videos over a minute in length.

Rewards begin when videos reach 1,000 qualified For You feed views. The actual money they receive is vague to the public, but judging by the lifestyles many popular creatives show off, it can't be all bad.

TikTok shop

TikTok has its own e-commerce platform within the app, where creators can link to items on their videos. It can be their own products, or products sold by registered sellers on the app. If viewers click on the item and buy it, the creator gets commission.

Sponsorships

Sponsorships aren’t a new thing in the digital creator world. It’s been a key way for influencers to make money since the early YouTube days.

In partnerships, ads must be disclosed to the audience, but influencers typically receive a free gift or experience, and payment, in exchange for an agreed amount and type of content.

Yasmin Rufo
Reporting from the TikTok Awards

Award ceremonies are far from a one man band.

With me tonight I have my wonderful cameraman Jon and producers Harry and Emmanuella, who will be helping with all the technical aspects of the evening.

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Image source, Disney/Randy Holmes

The power of TikTok is not to be underestimated - with 175 million monthly active TikTok users in Europe, videos on the app have contributed to some of this year's most viral trends.

Trends such as very demure, very mindful have even made their way beyond the internet as Dictionary.com has named demure as its word of the year.

Oxford University instead went for brain rot as its word of the year, meaning the over-consumption of low quality content on social media, which translates to spending too much time mindlessly scrolling on apps like TikTok.

Psychologist and Oxford University Professor Andrew Przybylski says the word "describes our dissatisfaction with the online world and it's a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media".

Ayamé Ponder, one of the nominees for creator of the year, says she "gets both sides of the argument" but thinks influencers "get a bad rep".

Yasmin Rufo
Reporting from the TikTok Awards

Hello from the red carpet. I'm in exhibition way for the first UK and Ireland TikTok awards.

We’ve got our spot on the carpet and we’re moments away from the glitz and glamour commencing as 72 content creators are about to arrive.

I've already found plenty of great photo spots and it seems like there are more ring lights than people right now, exactly what you'd expect from the awards that celebrate the chronically online.