11 of the most toe-curlingly awkward BRITs moments ever

Remember when Madonna hit the deck? Yeah, ya do...

Ahh, the BRITs. Unlike the BAFTAs where the A-listers usually behave themselves, the BRIT Awards have a magnetically mischievous, anything-could-happen vibe. The recipe is simple: take a weird mix of famous people in one space, stir up their egos, add a free bar, and then stand back to see the awkwardness unfold...

1. When James Corden cut Adele off mid flow in 2012

"Hello? Can you hear me?" In many ways we think the lyrics to Adele's 2015 single Hello were written in response to the eye-squintingly embarrassing time BRITs host James Corden cut her acceptance speech short. Under pressure from producers worried about the show overrunning, James made the tricky decision to stop Adele right in the middle of her doing her thank yous for British Album Of The Year. The singer then flipped the middle finger at the cameras, later saying it was aimed at "the suits at the Brit Awards".

2. That time it got turbo-awks between Ellie Goulding and Lewis Hamilton in 2015

The BRITs love throwing together weird celeb pairings to present awards. It's one of the highlights of the night (we're hoping to see Jeremy Corbyn with Cardi B this year). We thought Ellie and Lewis would be natural together, maybe there'd even be a little chemistry. But... no. Instead Lewis made the faux pas of comparing white-dress-wearing Ellie to a bride, and when that fell flat he tried to get the whole of the O2 to shout louder - only they... didn't.

3. Madonna's epic fall in 2015

It's now the stuff of legend. One minute the Queen of Pop is belting out her show-closing hit Living For Love, the next the singer has been yanked backwards by one of her dancers and fallen down three large steps. Cue all of Britain turning to ask 'Did that really happen?' The accident (caused by Madge's cape being tied too tight) last year took the internet by storm, spawned thousands of GIFs and will basically prove to be unbeatable in terms of drama.

4. When Jimmy Carr wouldn't stop making inappropriate comments in 2015

This photo pretty much sums it up.
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From awkward jokes to critiquing the show itself, comedian Jimmy didn't hold back on stage last year. His co-presenter Karlie Kloss didn't really seem to get what was going on, but styled it out nonetheless. However when Jimmy joked about sneaking into Madonna's dressing room and finding "a lot of drugs", before adding we didn't need to worry because "it's all HRT stuff", Karlie gave him the full eye-roll treatment.

5. When Liam Gallagher was Liam Gallagher in 2010

By that, we mean he was rude. When the Oasis frontman made a surprise appearance at the 2010 Brit Awards to collect his award for the band's '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' album, he strolled on, failed to thank most people (namely his brother and Oasis co-founder, Noel) and then lobbed the microphone and trophy into the crowd. Nice one, Liam. But host Peter Kay summed it up when he returned to the stage following Liam's little 'performance', saying: "What a knobhead". Yup.

6. When Ant and Dec tried to take a selfie with Kim Kardashian in 2015

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We get where they were going with this one. Ellen DeGeneres managed to break the internet with her Oscars selfie a few years back, so it's no surprise Ant and Dec wanted to give it a go themselves with the the queen of selfies, Kim Kardashian. Except all did not go to plan, when viewers were left watching a silent, highly concentrated hosting duo gaze awkwardly down the camera lens with Kim K herself, only for her to announce: "It's locked. It didn't take", after what felt like a lifetime. No selfies this year, boys.

7. The time Daniel and Natasha Bedingfield sang a love song in 2005

We're all for brotherly/sisterly love, especially when it concerns a pair both in their musical heyday, as Daniel and Natasha Bedingfield were back in 2005. Only problem was, they could probably have picked a more appropriate song. Choosing Ain't Nobody, which is definitely a love song, just gave us incest vibes. The lyrics go: "You filled my heart with a kiss / You gave me freedom / You knew I could not resist / I needed someone." I mean, come ON.

8. When Geri Halliwell flashed her boobs in 1997

Going... going... gone.
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1997 was the year Geri Halliwell donned the infamous Union Jack dress to the BRITs. The crowds were officially wowed, but that was nothing compared to later on in the show, when the Spice Girls took to the stage to collect an award, and Geri suffered something of a 'wardrobe malfunction' when she did an excited victory jiggle, and her boobs spilled out of her dress for a brief moment.

9. When Joss Stone inexplicably developed an American accent in 2007

Just to be clear, Joss Stone is from Devon, England. So when the soul singer rolled up to the stage of the 2007 Brits ready to present the award for the Best British Male, everyone wondered what the bloody hell she was doing putting on some kind of weird, trans-Atlantic/American accent. Odd, very odd. And Don't get us started on her "Big love to Robbie Williams" nonsense.

10. When the Arctic Monkeys slagged off the BRITs, while collecting a... BRIT in 2008

Lolz. Alex Turner does what he wants, doesn't he? The Arctic Monkeys frontman turned up definitely drunk with his bandmates to the 2008 ceremony, where the boys scooped the award for Best British Group. But Alex wasn't about to mince his words, sarcastically thanking the Brit School. He started, saying: "I'd like to thank the Brit school, of course, which I graduated from" (he didn't) before he was about to launch into a tirade about how the performing arts college profits financially from the awards ceremony. But the producers weren't having any of it, and quickly pulled the plug on the cheeky Monkeys, instead cutting to a backstage interview with Fearne Cotton. Oh, live TV.

11. When Jarvis Cocker flashed his arse at Michael Jackson in 1996

Apparently Michael painting himself as a Jesus-like saviour while children in rags pleadingly reached out to him just did not sit well with Pulp frontman Jarvis, so he stormed the stage, bent over quite a lot and flapped his arms about.

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