Rear of the Year

History

Edwards initiated the award as a way to promote specific brands of jeans. Barbara Windsor won the first award in 1976, The 1982 winner Suzi Quatro commented: "I’ve been told since I was about eight or nine that I had a nice ass... So, when I won the award, I was actually quite proud." In 1986, the award was presented to a man for the first time (Michael Barrymore)

2010 winner Fiona Bruce accepted the award and participated in a photoshoot, happily posing for pictures in tight jeans. However, she subsequently described the award as "the most hypocritical, ridiculous, ludicrous thing I’ve ever done."

In 2014, Carol Vorderman became the first person to receive the award for a second time, joking: "I always suspected there were a lot of people out there who were glad to see the back of me. It now appears there were even more than I thought."

The winners of the award were selected by public vote, a process that sometimes accrued popular campaigns for particular individuals. The winners were usually actors in soap operas, contestants in reality TV shows or pop stars. Edwards has described the contest as "an excellent monitor of fashions in body shape". In 2012 he declared that female rears were starting to slim down as more women took to the gym, jogging and keeping trim during that Olympic year. In 2018 he said that "the trend is towards a shapely, well-toned and, above all, proportionate rear".

A number of businesses sponsored the award including manufacturers of beauty products, Cadbury

Award winners were given a commemorative plaque in the form of an engraved crystal trophy. Until 2016 the award was promoted with a winner's photo op that was reported in the UK's tabloid newspapers. The event, staged for some years at The Dorchester hotel in London, was attended by numerous press photographers and included a champagne reception. Some winners subsequently described ambivalent feelings about their photo ops, during which they were photographed from behind. 2007 winner Siân Lloyd described hers as "probably the weirdest photocall I’ve attended in my life", while 2003 winner Natasha Hamilton said of seeing her pictures in the press: "I just didn’t like it. It seemed a little bit crass and seedy."

Winners

Recipients included:

• 1976 — Barbara Windsor
• 1981 — Felicity Kendal
• 1982 — Suzi Quatro
• 1983 — Lulu
• 1984 — Elaine Paige
• 1985 — Lynsey de Paul
• 1986 — Anneka Rice and Michael Barrymore
• 1987 — Anita Dobson
• 1988 — Su Pollard
• 1989 — No competition
• 1990 — No competition
• 1991 — Marina Ogilvy
• 1992 — Ulrika Jonsson
• 1993 — Sarah Lancashire
• 1994 — Mandy Smith and Richard Fairbrass
• 1995 — No competition
• 1996 — Tracy Shaw
• 1997 — Melinda Messenger and Gary Barlow
• 1998 — Carol Smillie and Frank Skinner
• 1999 — Denise van Outen and Robbie Williams
• 2000 — Jane Danson and Graham Norton
• 2001 — Claire Sweeney and John Altman
• 2002 — Charlotte Church and Scott Wright
• 2003 — Natasha Hamilton and Ronan Keating
• 2004 — Alex Best and Aled Haydn Jones
• 2005 — Nell McAndrew and Will Young
• 2006 — Javine Hylton and Ian Wright
• 2007 — Siân Lloyd and Lee Mead
• 2008 — Jennifer Ellison and Ryan Thomas
• 2009 — Rachel Stevens and Russell Watson
• 2010 — Fiona Bruce and Ricky Whittle
• 2011 — Carol Vorderman and Anton du Beke
• 2012 — Shobna Gulati and John Barrowman
• 2013 — Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone
• 2014 — Carol Vorderman and Olly Murs
• 2015 — Kym Marsh and Daniel Radcliffe
• 2016 — Jennifer Metcalfe and Tom Hiddleston
• 2017 — Rachel Riley and Idris Elba
• 2018 — Michelle Keegan and Aidan Turner
• 2019 — Amanda Holden and Andy Murray

Similar contests

• In 2013, a University of Cambridge newspaper held its own version of the award in which the contestants were naked.

• Miss Bumbum is an annual contest in Brazil to choose the best female buttocks in the country.

References

References

1. "About Us".
2. Kale, Sirin. (20 August 2018). "Behind the times? The strange, sad story of rear of the year". The Guardian.
3. Langlois, Andre. (23 July 2014). "Rear of the Year born out of 'joke with Barbara Windsor'".
4. Rohwedder, Kristie. (13 July 2015). "'HP' Characters React To D. Radcliffe's Butt Award".
5. "Rear of the Year Ltd.".
6. Walker, Tim. (8 June 2011). "Pippa Middleton should be proud to win 'rear of year', says Felicity Kendal". The Telegraph.
7. (7 May 2002). "Church 'sexually exploited', AM claims". BBC News.
8. Bain, Charlie. (2 May 2002). "I do like my bum... but if I had won Rear of the Year three months ago it would have been seen as sick; Award for Charlotte, 16". Daily Mirror.
9. Hutchinson, Peter. (13 June 2011). "Fiona Bruce says Rear of the Year award was 'hypocritical and demeaning'". Daily Telegraph.
10. Crothers, Jen. (21 October 2015). "Getting Deep Inside the Rear of the Year Award, a Cheeky British Institution".
11. "Past Winners of Rear Of The Year Competition". Rear Of The Year Limited.
12. (12 November 2013). "Cambridge University students criticised for naked Rear of the Year competition". The Telegraph.
13. Moreno, Carolina. (11 August 2014). "Miss Bumbum 2014 Contestants Hope To Have Brazil's Best Butt". The Huffington Post.