Tom Davis, Mick Miller and Dead Ringers among the line-up

Jason Manford is to host this year’s Royal Variety Performance, it has been announced.

The comic previously hosted the 2020 edition in Blackpool, which was staged with no live audience because of the Covid pandemic. He has also performed stand-up on the shows in 2009 and 2011.

This year’s event – at the Royal Albert Hall on November 19 – will also feature comedians Tom Davis and Mick Miller, 75, plus the cast of impressionists from Radio 4's Dead Ringers.

Closing the show will be a 40th anniversary celebration of Les Misérables, featuring Michael Ball, Matt Lucas and more, while extracts from  Paddington The Musical, Kinky Boots and the Live Aid musical Just For One Day – introduced by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure – also form part of the line-up.

Other music comes from Jessie J, Britain's Got Talent winner Harry Moulding, Madness, and Grammy-winning Laufey.  Opera singer Katherine Jenkins will lead with the national anthem, although it has not yet been confirmed  which members of the Royal Family will be there.

Stephen Fry and America's Got Talent winner Adrian Stoica and his border collie Hurricane round off the line-up of the show, which will air on ITV1 later.

As ever, the event is in aid of the Royal Variety Charity, raising money for those in the entertainment industry who are in need. 

Published: 24 Oct 2025