Summary

  • The first-ever UK and Ireland TikTok Awards are taking place during a glitzy ceremony in London

  • Kyra-Mae Turner is crowned creator of the year, for posting videos of her global travels on TikTok

  • Our reporters are at the awards and you can follow all the action live on this page

  • TV personality Michelle Visage is hosting the event, with a performance from Leigh-Anne Pinnock

  • The UK awards are one of 20 happening globally this year and each award celebrates people in categories including food, music, entertainment, beauty and fitness

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily McGarvey, with Yasmin Rufo reporting from the awards ceremony

  1. What's the point of these awards?

    Yasmin Rufo
    Culture reporter

    Jade Beaty and Ryan LosassoJade Beaty and Ryan Losasso

    Jade Beaty and Ryan Losasso create travel content on TikTok

    What's the reason behind having an awards event for the people who make videos for social media platforms?

    "There's a lot that goes into content creation," travel creators Jade Beaty and Ryan Losasso tell the BBC.

    “A 30 second video can take days, even weeks to produce. Awards like this can inspire a whole new wave of people to pick up a phone and make content," the pair explain.

    Aly Meghani, one of the fashion and beauty nominees agrees, and says: "From the outside, content creation might seem easy, but there’s so much effort, time, and thought that goes into it."

    Meghani, who also has a full-time job and does content creation in his spare time, says the awards "shed a light on our dedication and gives us the recognition we deserve".

  2. How many creators are up for awards?

    Yasmin Rufo
    Culture reporter

    For the people over the age of 30 and not chronically online, the likes of Asher Glean, Nicholas Flannery and Kyra-Mae Turner are probably total unknowns.

    But, for those who spend more time than they'd like to admit scrolling through TikTok, these names are likely to be all over their For You Page.

    They are just a few of the content creators who have been shortlisted for the first UK and Ireland TikTok Awards.

    Across 12 categories, 72 creators, who have a combined follower count of over 101m, have been nominated and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in London tonight.

  3. London gears up to host UK and Ireland TikTok awards

    TikTokGetty Images

    If you don't use it, you know someone who does. That's right, we're talking about the social media platform that's taken the world by storm - TikTok.

    Influencers - or content creators - have arrived en masse in central London for the UK and Ireland's first ever TikTok award ceremony.

    Our culture reporter, Yasmin Rufo, is at the red carpet event and will be bringing you updates throughout the evening as we find out who is taking home each prize.

    This year's best content creators in the food, beauty, sport and entertainment categories will be announced in the coming hours.

    Stay with us.