Entertainment

Gary Barlow and Naomi Campbell among winners at Variety Club Showbusiness Awards

The fundraising event will honour those who have made outstanding contributions to theatre, music, television, fashion and philanthropy.
The fundraising event will honour those who have made outstanding contributions to theatre, music, television, fashion and philanthropy.

Gary Barlow, Naomi Campbell and Katherine Jenkins are among those to be honoured at the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards 2022.

The event, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, returns on November 21 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, in support of Variety, the Children’s Charity.

Variety Club silver heart awards will be awarded to those who have made outstanding achievements in theatre, music, television, fashion and philanthropy.

75th Cannes Film Festival
Naomi Campbell will be honoured for her contribution to the fashion industry at the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards (Doug Peters/PA)

Singer-songwriter Barlow, 51, will receive the award for outstanding achievement in theatre and music, while model Campbell, 52, will receive the outstanding contribution to fashion for her role in bringing positive change and inclusion on the catwalk and beyond.

Welsh classical singer Jenkins, 42, will be the inaugural recipient of the Variety Club Duke of Edinburgh gold heart award for national excellence.

Eight days before the the Queen’s death, Buckingham Palace advised the charity chairman Professor Jonathan Shalit that the Queen was pleased an award would be given in memory of her late husband Prince Philip, according to the charity.

Elsewhere during the awards, which will be hosted by presenter and Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, the BBC will be honoured for outstanding contribution and excellence in global broadcasting.

The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards will contribute to the celebration of the corporation’s centenary year, with BBC director general Tim Davie saying: “I am delighted that the BBC will be celebrating its 100th birthday with Variety, the Children’s Charity, marking a centenary of world broadcasting.”

Henley Festival
Katherine Jenkins will receive the inaugural Variety Club Duke of Edinburgh gold heart award for national excellence award (Variety Club Showbusiness Awards/PA)

Beverley Knight will be recognised for her outstanding achievement in musical theatre, while Judy Craymer will receive the award for global achievement in cinema, theatre, and music for her work on Mamma Mia!

Shalit, 60, the charity’s newly elected chair, said: “This year, perhaps more than ever, the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards, are a shining beacon casting a celebratory light on so much that is great about the UK in every sense, from cultural to charitable and from entertainment to endeavour.

“We are particularly delighted to be sharing our return to London after the Covid years with a BBC 100th birthday celebration, the world’s oldest and best-loved global broadcaster.”

The award for outstanding achievement in fashion journalism has been secured by British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and the outstanding contribution to UK literature award will go to author and journalist Natalie Livingston.

North London inclusive theatre company Chickenshed will receive the award for outstanding contribution to diversity and inclusion in the performing arts, while the Chief Barker silver heart award for outstanding contribution to the UK arts will go to philanthropist Anita Zabludowicz.

The Hello! magazine silver heart award for outstanding new talent will be awarded to singer, presenter and 2022 Strictly Come Dancing contestant Molly Rainford.

In addition to celebrating those who have made valuable contributions to their industries, the awards are a fundraising event with proceeds going to Variety, the Children’s Charity who work to change the lives of disabled and disadvantaged children in the UK.

The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards will take place on November 21 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.