Highlights from the 2022 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards – Michelle Visage, Heartstopper and more

The Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards were back with all their usual glitz and glamour for 2022. 

Richard Branson and Virgin have been proud supporters of the LGBTQ+ community for more than 50 years – right from when Richard founded Student magazine and the Student Advisory Centre. Virgin Atlantic has sponsored Attitude magazine for 11 years and the Attitude Awards has always been a big part of that. 

Here are some of the highlights of this year’s awards:

Michelle Visage

Michelle Visage, who helped Virgin Atlantic to launch its updated gender identity policy recently, was the host for the evening, and did a brilliant job.

“The Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards is the biggest night, in my opinion, in the UK for the LGBTQIA+ community,” Michelle said. “It’s a safe space to have a place where we’re all likeminded and we all feel the same. And we are here under one word and that word is love.”

Heartstopper cast’s acceptance speech

The Heartstopper cast received the TV Award, for its beautiful depiction of two teenage boys falling in love for the first time.

Yasmin Finney, who plays Elle Argent in the show, said: “I think I speak for 99% of the room when I say we all needed a Heartstopper growing up. And I am just so happy that we get to be that representation for the new generation to come. And they get to finally have happy, positive, natural representation that they deserve. The queer TV magic isn’t stopping there, it’s only the beginning.”

Mel C

Although we could never choose a favourite Spice Girl, Mel C is certainly in our top five. And she was awarded Atttitude’s Honorary Gay award last night. Receiving the award from Rylan and also performing some of Spice Girls’ biggest hits, she really got the party going.

Visit Attitude to see all the winners of this year's awards.