Well, what a night! And what a winner!

As you'll no doubt know by now, Huddersfield policeman Mark Carter has been crowned Mr Gay UK 2006!

Now he's officially Britain's sexiest gay man, the 23-year-old will spend the next year juggling beat duties with his new role as a gay ambassador, making personal appearances, giving interviews and posing for photoshoots.

The night itself at the Flamingo Club, Blackpool, was brilliant. A total of 23 finalists took to the stage. First they were asked to "dress to impress" and Mark wore a police-style outfit including a bulletproof vest - though force rules mean officers aren't allowed to wear their actual uniform off duty.

Other entrants dressed as everything from Indiana Jones to a scuba diver to a waiter in just an apron. Then came the swimwear parade, and the finalists chatted onstage to our excellent compere, Richard from Big Brother - who told me he actually used to go out with a policeman.

The celebrity judges were brilliant, too. Su Pollard, the sartorial goddess, didn't let us down - she arrived in huge, multi-colour glasses and a floaty black cocktail dress trimmed with ostrich feathers.

Anita Dobson, the EastEnders star, chatted to me about her husband, the Queen guitarist, Brian May. I wondered why he always used to wear clogs - it turns out it was an attempt to cure his bad back, caused by hunching over his guitar. Clogs are supposed to make you stand up straighter, Anita said, but clompy footwear didn't particularly help poor Brian.

Lea from Big Brother, and the X-Factor star Rowetta, were their brilliant, loud, outrageous selves. Lea's biggest concern of the night was about walking down the steep steps to the stage in her teetering heels - she and Richard made a fantastic double act.

They kept busy backstage swapping stories about life after the BB House and Lea was quite happy to pose for pictures with clubbers who were particularly interested in seeing that amazing cleavage of hers for real!

Rowetta, meanwhile, made a new friend of Plat'num from Blazin' Squad - who sang their latest songs while the votes were being counted. She told him he reminded her of her son, and invited him to come travelling with her!

Later, back at the hotel, the Blazin' Squad boys serenaded Anita with her hit single, Anyone Can Fall In Love, to which she wagged a warning finger and joked: "That's what happens when you have a big hit, it comes back to haunt you."


The club was packed and in the audience were about 50 of Mark Carter's colleagues from Huddersfield Police - all wearing t-shirts bearing his name and picture!

When I got onstage to reveal the winner, the crowd went wild. Mark was loving every second as he climbed up onto the podium.

I can't wait to see his year as Mr Gay UK unfold. I think Mark is a great role model and he'll be an inspiration. Just watch this space - you'll be seeing a lot more of him!