How many times has the UK won Eurovision?
It has been a while!
The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest is fast approaching, with this year's acts all preparing themselves to take centre stage in just under a month.
This year, the UK is being represented by country girl band Remember Monday, comprised of Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hulland and Charlotte Steele, who have been friends since they met at sixth form in 2013.
The current Eurovision odds are in favour of former champs Sweden taking the crown, with our entry currently predicted to come in 13th place, with odds of 66/1 to win.
But, has the UK ever won Eurovision? And how many times have we hosted the event?
As Eurovision 2025 gets underway, we cast our eyes back to the past – here's how many times the UK have won in the history of the contest and when the last victory for us was – it was some time ago!
Who has won Eurovision from the UK?
Sandie Shaw - Puppet on a String (1967)
Sandie was our first-ever winner of the contest back in 1967 with her song Puppet on a String - it's still an absolute banger all these years later if you ask us. It took us a while to get our first victory as the contest originally began in 1956.
Lulu - Boom Bang-a-Bang (1969 as a joint winner with Spain, the Netherlands and France)
Our second win came a mere two years later, those were the days, but it was a bit of a complicated one as Eurovision had never counted on a tie - let alone a four-way one, and we ended up with four different countries emerging on top.
It was the Netherlands who ended up being the hosts for the contest in 1970 - presumably, it wasn't us as we had only just hosted the year before.
Brotherhood of Man - Save Your Kisses for Me (1976)
We had a few years to wait until our next big win and it was Brotherhood of Man that delivered the goods in 1976 with Save Your Kisses For Me. It's a super fun tune that is still enjoyable to listen to today - no wonder we won that year!
Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up (1981)
To many, this song defines Eurovision more than any other and it remains one of the most popular songs ever performed in the competition - it's just so darn catchy!
Bucks Fizz gave us our only win in the '80s with their 1981 victory and it would be quite the wait until we got another...
Katrina and the Waves - Love, Shine a Light (1997)
Our fifth and, to date, final Eurovision win was all the way back in 1997 and it was Katrina and the Waves and their song, Love, Shine a Light, that did the job.
So that means it has been 25 years since we last emerged on top of the pile when the Eurovision votes were counted and it would be fair to say that we have hardly been a powerhouse in the contest since.
Will 2022 finally be our year?
How many times has the UK hosted Eurovision?
The UK has hosted Eurovision nine times in total, having also stepped in to stage the event when others were unable to do so.
The last time the UK hosted the Eurovision Song Contest was in 2023 in Liverpool, as it was runner-up to winner Ukraine in 2022, which couldn't host due to the ongoing conflict.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 final will take place on Saturday 17th May 2025.
You can also check out the full list of Eurovision winners.
Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
