Some 2,500 key workers from The National Health Service (NHS) will be part of the audience at tonight’s Brit Awards that will take place at O2, which is staging its first live music show in more than a year.

The ceremony, hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, will be a part of the Government’s live events pilot scheme, with 4,000 people in the audience including members of NHS.

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One of the members is intensive care staff nurse Natasha Callender, 38, who told how her ward “changed overnight” when the pandemic hit the UK in March last year and described how she often thought the horrors of COVID-19 “would never end”.

Callender, who works at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, said the fact NHS workers had been offered tickets was “nice”.

“It feels like you are appreciated by being offered something amazing like this. Sometimes it feels like this will never end. But for one night, I cannot wait to go and do something different at the Brits,” she said.

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Other attendees include NHS 111 call handler Ella Thomas, 25, from Battersea, who took the job after her work in musical theatre stopped and has been working night shifts to help the London Ambulance Service, and firefighter Amie Keenan, 31, from Greenwich, who retrained to drive ambulances during the height of the pandemic, reports the publication .

Coldplay will open the show with a live performance from a pontoon on the River Thames. Dua Lipa, Arlo Parks, and Headie One will perform inside the venue.

Rap duo Young T & Bugsey, Dua Lipa, Arlo Parks, Celeste, and DJ and producer Joel Corry are among the nominees this year, with the acts up for three awards.

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The show will also see Taylor Swift honoured with the global icon Brit Award and hence becoming the first female artist to win the prize.

Audience members attending the ceremony will not be socially distanced or required to wear face coverings once seated. However, they will need proof of a negative lateral flow test result to enter the venue and will be expected to provide details to NHS Test and Trace and follow Government guidance while travelling.

The ceremony will air live on ITV and ITV Hub from 8pm, while Chelcee Grimes and Arielle Free will host the live stream on the Brits YouTube page.