Let Battle Commence
The Novices opened proceedings and Ebow Crankson, fresh from making his debut at the English Grand Prix just two weeks earlier, returned to the stage looking noticeably more confident. With improved presentation and a conditioned package, Ebow became our first 2026 BPA British Champion of the day.

In Novice Bikini, Ellena Carney made an interesting switch. Having competed in Figure at the English Grand Prix, she moved across to Bikini for the British Championships and was rewarded by taking the British title.

Novice Men's Physique saw Daniel Kerr impress with his relaxed and polished presentation to become British Champion.

The Masters Mean Business
If anyone still believes Masters bodybuilding provides an easier route to a title, this year's British Championships once again proved otherwise.
The Masters 40–49 Bodybuilding category saw Fran Beier successfully retain his British crown in a very strong line-up.
The 50–59 category was every bit as competitive.
Anth Larson retained his title for an incredible third time, making BPA British Championships history in the process.
It was far from an easy decision, however, with Chris Unitt, Kevin Milne, Nick Lewis and Keith Baggaly all bringing physiques capable of challenging for that title.

These Masters competitors certainly don't make life easy for the judges!
The Over 60s continued the trend with another closely fought line-up which required plenty of comparisons before Tim Bird eventually emerged as British Champion.

Figure, Classic & The Weight Classes
Fresh from an impressive performance at the North West Classic qualifier, Lucy Watkins continued her season in style by taking the Trained Figure British title.
Masters Classic was another hard-fought category, with every competitor battling for the top spot before Kris Jones eventually took the win.

Into the bodybuilding weight classes and the experienced, multi-title-winning Mark Powers added another trophy to his collection by taking the Under 70kg British title.

The Under 80kg division produced another memorable result as Over 60 competitor Paul Norton proved that age is simply another number on the entry form, taking the British title in another tightly contested category.

The Under 90kg title went to the experienced and superbly conditioned Raf Kwiatkowski

The Under 100kg class saw Fran Beier return to the stage and take another British title, finishing ahead of the impressively conditioned Kevin Milne.

In Classic Physique, the much-improved Cameron Cleaver was rewarded for his progress with the British crown.

Men's Physique
Masters Men's Physique produced another close contest, with Ali Sidat eventually taking the British title ahead of Mark Winder.

Masters Men's Physique 50–59 saw novice Shaun Drayford edge another tight decision to become British Champion.

Later in the Open Men's Physique divisions, Joe Pocklington took the Short Class title.

The other Open Men's Physique title went to Saad Farooq – affectionately becoming known as “Barbie's Ken” – who was certainly not finished collecting titles for the day.

Bikini, Figure & Fit Model
The women's categories provided some excellent battles between very different physiques.
Blanka Harvey took the Masters Bikini title, while the statuesque Samantha Popplewell claimed the Masters Bikini 40–49 British crown.

The Over 50s Bikini title went to the ever-youthful Barbara Hamill.

Masters Figure produced an immensely competitive line-up, with Rising Star Laura Wilkinson coming through to take the British title.
Laura wasn't finished there.
She returned for Open Figure and won again before going on to claim the Overall Figure Championship.

In Open Bikini, Blanka Harvey took the Short Class while Samantha Popplewell won the Tall Class, setting up another battle for the Overall title.

The new Fit Model categories also had their moment on the British stage. Rising Star Meredith Hemmings took the Ladies Fit Model British title and sash, while the Men's Fit Model category produced another great battle, with Saad Farooq – “Barbie's Ken” – adding another British title to his collection.

THE SIX PACK – OUR OVERALL CHAMPIONS
Then came one of the highlights of the British Championships – the Overall battles.
The class winners returned to the stage to stand alongside the very best in their respective divisions, with the Overall British titles at stake.
And from those battles emerged a very special group…

THE SIX PACK – our six 2026 BPA British Overall Champions.

Ali Sidat – Masters Men's Physique Overall Champion
Blanka Harvey – Masters Bikini AND Open Bikini Overall Champion
Fran Beier – Masters Bodybuilding Overall Champion
Laura Wilkinson – Figure Overall Champion
Saad Farooq – Open Men's Physique Overall Champion
Cameron Cleaver – Open Bodybuilding Overall Champion

Six athletes. Seven Overall titles.
Blanka Harvey achieved the impressive double, taking both the Masters Bikini and Open Bikini Overall crowns.

For every one of these athletes, the Overall title represented the culmination of the work that had brought them through their class and back onto the stage to stand alongside the day's other champions.
Together, The Six Pack gave us one of the lasting images of the 2026 BPA British Championships.

More Than Just a Show
And with that, another British Championships came to an end.
Our sincere thanks go to every competitor and every coach who chose to support the BPA throughout the season and at the British Championships.

Thank you also to our sponsors, trade stands, spectators, VIP guests, media team, backstage crew, tanning and make-up teams, officials and judges.