The very first ‘Rear of the Year’ award was presented in 1976 to Barbara Windsor but it was a further five years before the award became an annual event with a presentation to actress Felicity Kendal in 1981.
Rock singer Suzi Quatro won the award in 1982 and three singers followed her to win the title – Lulu in 1983, Elaine Paige in 1984 and Lynsey de Paul in 1985.
The first award to a male celebrity was in 1986 when comedian Michael Barrymore joined Anneka Rice in the media spotlight.
Actresses Anita Dobson and Su Pollard won the title in 1987 and 1988 respectively but, in 1990, the ‘Rear of the Year’ went to the first Royal on the growing list of celebrities when Marina Ogilvy, the daughter of Princess Alexandra, walked away with the title.
Following a two year’s break in the presentations and a major change of format, Ulrika Jonsson’s rear asset took the title in 1992, followed by actress Sarah Lancashire in 1993. Mandy Smith and Richard Fairbrass were joint winners in 1994, after which the competition switched to a mid Summer format in 1996 with actress Tracy Shaw receiving the public vote.
Since then the ‘Rear of the Year’ award has been presented each and every year to both a male and female celebrity.
| 1997 Melinda Messenger & Gary Barlow 1998 Carol Smillie & Frank Skinner 1999Denise van Outen & Robbie Williams
2000 Jane Danson & Graham Norton
2001 Claire Sweeney & John Altman
2002 Charlotte Church & Scott Wright
2003 Natasha Hamilton & Ronan Keating
2004 Alex Best & Aled Haydn-Jones
2005 Nell McAndrew & Will Young
| 2006 Javine Hylton & Ian Wright 2007 Sian Lloyd & Lee Mead 2008Jennifer Ellison & Ryan Thomas
2009 Rachel Stevens & Russell Watson
2010 Fiona Bruce & Ricky Whittle
2011 Carol Vorderman & Anton du Beke
2012 Shobna Gulati & John Barrowman
2013 Flavia Cacace & Vincent Simone
2014 VOTE NOW!
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The 19th Century bustle, worn with a tight-fitting corset, first focussed attention on the exaggerated
but fashionable female rear and, as they say, it’s never looked back.
1940’s and 50’s Hollywood film stars Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Jane Russell then popularised the well-rounded rear of the period, quickly reversed in the 1960’s by a neater, more boyish rear, typified by top models of the decade Jean ‘The Shrimp’ Shrimpton and ‘Twiggy’.
The 1970’s and 80’s brought with them a gradual increase in the size of the fashionable rear until the 1990’s when health and fitness became the major fashion influence – slimming down the general rear ‘look’ once again.
Following the 2012 Olympics, the fashionable rears of both men and women have become more toned as a result of specific exercise regimes to trim the gluteus maximus – the largest and most superficial of the buttock muscles – to resemble the rears of the Olympic Gold Medal celebrities.
The rear will probably always exert a major influence on fashion and the way men and women want to look – which is why the annual ‘Rear of the Year’ awards are a clear and positive indicator of the very latest trends in body shape.
Why not cast your vote on what you think the Rear of this year should be? Contact us today with your vote.
