Bill Nighy's Podcast Pivot Pays Off as Actor Takes Top Host Honour at British Podcast Awards

Bill Nighy has added a new string to his bow, with the veteran actor collecting the best host prize at the British Podcast Awards for his advice-driven series Ill-Advised. The 76-year-old, best known for a long and celebrated screen career, was honoured at the ceremony on Thursday, where organisers described his programme as an "irresistibly endearing series".

The award places Nighy ahead of a competitive field that included some of the biggest names working in audio and broadcasting. Among those he edged out for the honour were documentarian Louis Theroux, comedian Katherine Ryan and singer and presenter Lily Allen, underlining the strength of the category at this year's event.

Ill-Advised presents Nighy in the role of an agony uncle, dispensing wry counsel to listeners while reflecting on subjects ranging from music and books to the broader ups and downs of everyday life. The show is pitched as "a podcast for people who don't get out much and can't handle it when they do" — a wry framing that appears to have resonated with both audiences and judges.

For Nighy, the win represents a notable reinvention. The actor, who turns 77 later this year, has built a reputation across films including Love Actually, Living and the Underworld franchise, but the podcasting world has now given him a fresh platform and a new kind of critical recognition.

His success was not the only headline of the evening. The 10th annual British Podcast Awards, held on Thursday, spread its honours across a wide range of genres, from true crime and history to parenting and sport, reflecting the expanding breadth of the medium in the UK.

Pete Wicks emerged as one of the night's biggest winners, with his programme Man Made taking home two awards — best interview podcast and best health & wellbeing podcast. The series sees Wicks attempt to "unpack modern masculinity", a subject that has become an increasingly prominent theme in public conversation, and the double recognition suggests the show has struck a chord with judges in two distinct categories.

Actor Sean Bean also enjoyed a successful evening, with his birdwatching series Get Birding collecting two prizes — best lifestyle podcast and best video innovation. The latter award highlights the growing importance of visual elements in podcasting, as producers look beyond audio alone to reach audiences on video-first platforms.

The overall top prize, best podcast, went to Hold or Fold, a series about problem gambling produced by the Prison Radio Association. The programme also won the award for best factual podcast, making it another double winner on the night and giving the Prison Radio Association a significant moment in the spotlight.

In the Listeners' Choice category, fans voted for Hard Launch with Dan & Phil, hosted by the YouTube veterans, as their favourite. The award, decided by public vote rather than a judging panel, offers a useful signal of which shows are building the most engaged communities.

Elsewhere in the comedy field, Alan Carr and Lee Peart won best food & drink podcast for Bottoms Up!, their comedy and wine series. The pair were recognised for a show that blends humour with an enthusiasm for wine, part of a wider trend of personality-led lifestyle programming in the podcast sector.

The arts & culture prize went to Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, produced by BBC Audio Wales and West of England. The business category was won by The Factory Next Door, while The Intelligence, from The Economist, took best daily podcast, and The Birth Keepers, from The Guardian, was named best documentary podcast.

Education honours went to Talking Rubbish, while NewlyParents won best entertainment podcast and Project Bläckfisk took the fiction award. In history, The House at Number 48, from BBC Long Form Audio, was victorious, and the impact prize went to SEND in the Spotlight from BBC Audio.

Children's programming was represented by Audiomoves in Space, which won best kids podcast. The BBC World Service was named best network or publisher, and Do I Detect A Problem? was named best new podcast, a category that often points to where the industry's next generation of talent is emerging.

In news, politics and current affairs, The Wargame, a collaboration between Sky News and Tortoise, took the prize. The parenting award went to the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast, while the rising star award was presented to Georgie Styles, recognising an individual whose work is expected to grow in influence.

Further winners included Atonement: The John Paulk Story for best sex & relationships podcast, The Dementia Perspective for the specialist award, and That Peter Crouch Podcast for best sport. The spotlight award went to Dish from Waitrose with Nick Grimshaw & Angela Hartnett, Coining It won best true crime podcast, and Hanes Mawr Cymru took the best Welsh language podcast prize.

The ceremony marked a decade of the British Podcast Awards, a period that has coincided with the medium's transformation from a niche format into a major part of the UK's audio and entertainment landscape. The range of winners — from a former footballer's chat show to a prison-produced investigation into gambling harm — illustrates how broad the field has become.

For Nighy, the best host award sits alongside earlier recognition for Ill-Advised, which was also named podcast of the year at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards in March. That combination of honours suggests his move into audio is not a passing experiment but a genuine second act — one that has now been endorsed by both critics and his podcasting peers.