Rising Stars & Master Allstars 2025
By John Plummer
Photography by DSTRCT Group
To order your stage photos from this event, go to DSTRCT Group.
John and Jodie take the champions’ swords at BPA Rising Star and Masters Allstars
The BPA’s terrific two-in-one show gave stage first timers and over-35s the chance to take the spotlight on stage.
The day started with the Rising Star contest for people who had never competed before.
After an interval, the Masters Allstars competition saw masters competitors do battle in various categories before the winners came back to compete for the swords that were on offer to the overall men’s and women’s champions.
Here’s how the action unfolded.
MASTERS ALLSTARS
Women’s categories
Wellness champion Jodie Dunseath proved to be the star of the show. Showing a terrifically conditioned and shapely physique, Jodie won her class and then overcame the other class winners in the overall showdown.
The mother-of-four from Pembrokeshire, who became the first British soldier to cross the border in Iraq when she was 18, is in her fifth year of competing after starting aged 35. “I began in bikini but my quads took over. Now my delts are starting to take over so I’m going to grow into figure,” she said.
Cheryl Mcgregor was the pick of a fabulous four in figure. She wasn’t the most muscular or the hardest but her well balanced shape appealed to the judges in a class that featured some outstanding routines as well as physiques.
The bikini category began with Heather Ashley Jones claiming the over-35s. Heather looked more like a junior than a masters competitor and brought a terrific package to the stage. Caroline Hertrich overcame Sam Popplewell in the over 40s in what was arguably the highest quality female category of the day.
Tracy Carter’s sensational conditioning showed off her fabulous lines to great effect in the over-50s.
Meredith Hemmings was the personification of a rising star in the novices show. She absolutely rocked the stage in winning the bikini class and surely a bright future awaits.
There was little to choose between Lucy Johnson and Nicky Adlam in the figure Rising Star class. Both were excellent, but Lucy just had that bit more conditioning.
Masters Allstars Results
The standard of masters bodybuilders has been a feature of the sport in recent years. Nevertheless, the quality on show here was remarkable.
The pick of the crop was John Youssef, who won a tough, five-strong over-40s line-up before taking on the other champions for the overall title.
It was a tight call between him and under-85kg winner Rafal Kwiatkowski, who packed an extraordinary amount of muscle on his frame. Rafal was also sharp, but the judges felt John’s physique was a little more complete. The 46-year-old from Formby, who was competing in his sixth show, joked: “I have been training since I was 12 but I only started competing when I was 44 because my wife talked me into it.”
Chris Unitt was also in the overall shake-up: Chris beat top competitor Kyle Vauls in an entertaining and sporting over-50s class. He has plenty of muscle and really peaked to perfection for this show to bring a lot of diced muscle to the stage.
Over 60s champion Shaun Thomas’ physique had to be seen to be believed. He looked so balanced and youthful — a great advert for the lifestyle.
The well-proportioned Kris Jones overcame man mountain Herry Cooke in classic bodybuilding.
In men’s physique, Bhavik Patel started the day a complete newbie to the sport and ended it with four winners’ trophies. He won the Rising Star open and over-35 categories before taking the Masters Allstar novice and over-35 classes. Bhavik was on and off stage all day but managed to retain his freshness and energy throughout.
Lee Bushell overcame Elliot Taylor in the well fought over-40s men’s physique class. Neil Barsby took the over-50s and there was success for Gareth Paine and Grant Coles in the height classes.
BPA Rising Stars & Masters Allstars
RESULTS
Rising Star Novice Bodybuilding
1 John Haley
Rising Star Men’s Physique 35+
1 Bhavik Patel
Rising Star Bikini Open
1 Meredith Hemmings
Rising Star Figure
1 Lucy Johnson
2 Nicky Adlam
Rising Star Bodybuilding 40 +
1 John Haley
Rising Star Men’s Physique Open
1 Bhavik Patel
2 Shaan Kiyani
3 Nick Hogg
4 Nathan O’Shea
RESULTS
Masters Novice Mens Physique
1 Bhavik Patel
2 Elliot Taylor
Masters Figure
1 Cheryl Mcgregor
2 Amber Wilks
3 Joanne Sayer
4 Nicky Adlam
Masters Classic Bodybuilding
1 Kris Jones
2 Herry Cooke
Masters Bodybuilding 40 +
1 John Youssef
2 Jody Hopwood
3 Herry Cooke
4 Martin Batley
5 Kris Jones
Masters Bodybuilding 50 +
1 Chris Unitt
2 Kyle Vauls
Masters Bodybuilding 60 +
1 Shaun Thomas
2 Peter Roche
Masters Bikini 35+
1 Heather Ashley Jones
Masters Bikini 40+
1 Caroline Hertrich
2 Samantha Popplewel
3 Jane Harrison
Masters Bikini 50+
1 Tracy Carter
2 Tracey Coleman
Masters Wellness
1 Jodie Dunseath
Masters Mens Physique 35+
1 Bhavik Patel
2 Grant Coles
Masters Mens Physique 40+
1 Lee Bushell
2 Elliot Taylor
3 Matt Hughes
4 Hami Abdollahi
5 Gareth Paine
Masters Mens Physique 50+
1 Neil Barsby
2 Adrian Cristinacce
Masters Bodybuilding Under 85kg
1 Rafal Kwiatkowski
2 Baron Darren Stock
3 Peter Roche
Masters Short Bikini
1 Heather Ashley Jones
Masters Tall Bikini
1 Samantha Popplewell
Masters Short Mens Physique
1 Gareth Paine
Masters Tall Mens Physique
1 Grant Coles