NikkieTutorials hosting Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star series 8 has been confirmed by the BBC, with Dutch make-up artist Nikkie de Jager stepping in after Leomie Anderson announced she is leaving the show. The news marks one of the bigger shake-ups in the programme’s history, bringing in one of the most recognisable names in online beauty to front its eighth run.
NikkieTutorials hosting Glow Up: from guest judge to front-of-camera lead
De Jager is no stranger to the Glow Up studio. She has appeared as a guest judge across several seasons already, and has now been confirmed as the full-time host for the upcoming series. ‘I’m so incredibly honoured to take over from Leomie, and I promise I’ll take very good care of this baby,’ she said, via the BBC Media Centre. ‘I’ve been lucky enough to pop into the Glow Up studio as a guest judge for quite a few seasons now… but this time I’m staying!’
De Jager, who has been a content creator for the past 16 years, described the appointment in personal terms. ‘Make-up has been my entire world for as long as I can remember, so getting to be part of the Glow Up family in this whole new way really is a dream come true,’ she added.
Anderson, who has hosted the show since its fifth season in 2023, confirmed her departure warmly. ‘After three incredible seasons on Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-up Star, I have decided that I will be leaving, and handing the make-up brushes over to someone new,’ she said. ‘My Glow Up journey has been amazing. I have gotten to watch some incredibly talented MUAs express themselves, push themselves and grow from shy creatives to full on professional make-up artists.’
Anderson had previously also appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox. Before her tenure, the show was hosted by Stacey Dooley and Maya Jama across its first four seasons.
BBC backs the new era with a full production team in place
Carl Callam, Commissioning Editor at BBC, praised Anderson’s contribution while welcoming her successor. ‘Leomie has brought her vibrant personality and flair for fashion to Glow Up over the past three series, and I would like to thank her for the magnificent job she has done,’ he said. ‘We will all miss her, and she will always be a part of the Glow Up family. I am really excited to welcome NikkieTutorials as our new host,’ he added, citing her ‘passion’ as a defining trait.
Behind the scenes, series 8 will be Executive Produced by Melissa Brown, with Kat Davitt and Michael Greene serving as Series Producers, according to the BBC Media Centre. The production is a Wall To Wall production for BBC Three and iPlayer, with Wall To Wall itself a Warner Bros. Television Production UK Ltd. company. That is a detail worth noting for anyone tracking how major US studios are embedded in British factual entertainment: the glossy, skills-based competition fans watch on a Tuesday night is rooted in a transatlantic production structure.
The format itself remains unchanged for series 8. Contestants face weekly make-up challenges judged by Dominic Skinner and Val Garland, with the competition building towards the crowning of a winner. The show’s combination of craft-focused challenges and sharp judging has kept it running through eight seasons, and the BBC’s decision to recruit a host with a global online following suggests an appetite to push the audience further.
NikkieTutorials hosting Glow Up brings with it a fanbase built across more than a decade and a half of content creation, and de Jager’s existing relationship with the programme, built across multiple guest judge appearances, means she arrives with a working knowledge of how the show operates. For a series built around the idea of watching artists develop their craft under pressure, having a host who has spent 16 years doing exactly that on screen is a reasonably tidy fit.
Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star airs on BBC Three and streams on BBC iPlayer.
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