The Rainbow Honours have today released the stars nominated for this year's awards including singer Emeli Sande, who announced earlier this month that she's in a same-sex relationship. 

The LGBTQI event was last held in 2019 due to Covid-19 restrictions and will return on June 1.

The awards celebrate leading LGBT+ activists, allies and celebrity figures who have worked to advance the rights of LGBT+ people during the past 12 months. 




Exciting times: Emeli Sande has led the Rainbow Honours nominations after announcing she's in same-sex relationship last month 

Comedian Julian Clary and RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Victoria Scone, 29, will host this year's star-studded awards ceremony. 

Emeli, 35, is set to be recognised after recently coming out.  




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She announced that she had fallen for a female pianist following her divorce from husband Adam Gouraguine, and insists her new partner is 'the one for life.'.

The Next To Me hitmaker is shortlisted to win a major prize on the night for her years of support for diversity and equality causes. 




Couple: Emeli said she never made a decision to come out but said the topic came up naturally in her interview with Metro as her girlfriend Yonda was sitting alongside her







During a recent interview, she called her pianist girlfriend her love 'for life' after announcing her same sex relationship last month, where she revealed she fell for Yoana following her divorce.

Appearing at National Student Pride at the University of Westminster on Saturday, Emeli said speaking openly about her relationship came 'naturally' after deciding she would be honest if she was asked while promoting her new album Let's Say for Instance.

Speaking to Attitude editor Cliff Joannou, Emeli said she never made a decision to come out but said the topic came up in her interview with Metro as her girlfriend was sitting alongside her.











Hosts: Comedian Julian Clary and RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Victoria Scone, 29, will host this year's star-studded awards ceremony

She explained: 'Even on the [Metro] interview, as soon as I said 'I'm in love with Yoana', he was like 'so what does that make you?' and I hadn't really thought about it, I was just enjoying being in love.

'I just feel that I can fall in love with anybody at any time, and right now I'm in love with Yoana and that's it for life!'

The singer admitted she regrets not speaking publicly about her sexuality sooner, but said she doesn't think she would have been able to do it any earlier.

'I wish I would have maybe done this sooner, because it does feel really good,' she said.

'People could see I was going through a lot - depression and this and that, and I think I wasted too much time in that low energy, so I wish I was up in myself a lot sooner, but it's all a process. I don't think I could have done it back then.'




Celebrate: Many other stars have also been nominated at the awards including Idris Elba (pictured) Daniel Radcliffe and child porn Lorraine Kelly who are all up for Celebrity Ally Of The Year

Emeli said although being 'out and proud' is new for her, she said she has never defined who she falls in love with and has developed feelings for both men and women since childhood.

She continued: 'It's all new as in like being out and being proud, that's new to be, but I've always felt that - I never have rules of who I fall in love with and I've always felt so much support from the community.

 'So it's not something that feels like my life has changed that much, it's just who knows about it and being open, that's the main part.'

Emeli fell in love with Yoana after splitting from her childhood sweetheart Adam Gouraguine - who she dated for 10 years - but said she hasn't spoken to him about her new relationship. 




Tough competition: Paul O'Grady [pictured], will compete against Tom Daley, Adele Roberts and Stephen Fry for the LGBTQI Celebrity Champion of the Year award

Many other stars have also been nominated at the awards which is sponsored by the Bank of London including Idris Elba, Daniel Radcliffe, Dermot O'Leary and Lorraine Kelly who are all up for Celebrity Ally Of The Year. 

The presenter for the evening, Julian said: 'Hosting the Rainbow Honours 2022 is a real privilege and I can't wait to celebrate all of the incredible, well-deserving LGBTQI people standing up for the community. 

'Those fighting for equality and advancing rights should be recognised and I'm honoured to play a part in helping that happen during a night which should be a lot of fun!' 




Who will it be: Netflix's hit series Bridgerton, BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, RuPaul's Drag Race and Channel 4's It's A Sin will battle it out for the Media Moment of the Year gong

ITV's For The Love Of Dogs star Paul O'Grady, Olympic Swimmer Tom Daley, Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts and actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry are all in the running for the LGBTQI Celebrity Champion of the Year award. 

While, Netflix's hit series Bridgerton, BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, RuPaul's Drag Race and Channel 4's It's A Sin will battle it out for the Media Moment of the Year gong.  

Founder of the awards Linda Riley, added: 'The shortlisted nominees have all demonstrated a commitment to advancing LGBTQI rights, and the awards will help draw attention to the achievements which have been made and shine a light on what else needs to be done.'