Dua Lipa ‘delighted to honour carers’ as she prepares to perform non-socially distanced NHS gig

Dua Lipa couldn’t mask her joy after revealing she will be playing to a live audience packed with NHS heroes at The Brits next month.

The government has given Britain’s biggest night of music the green light for May 11, and performers like Dua will be able to see the crowd’s faces as they won’t have to wear masks.

The 20,000-capacity O2 Arena will be only a fifth full with 4,000 attendees, 2,500 of them front-line workers — guests of the recorded music industry.

Once inside they won’t have to socially distance, but everyone must have a negative lateral flow test and be tested again afterwards. They’ll also need to take part in contact tracing and follow social distancing to and from the gig, hosted again by Jack Whitehall. However, the record labels’ lavish after-parties are expected to be called off.

After fears that stars would be playing to an empty venue, triple nominee Dua, 25, is ecstatic to have a live audience.

‘This has been a long, tough year for everyone and I’m delighted the night will honour the key worker heroes who have cared for us so well,’ said the Levitating singer. ‘They are an inspiration.’

The ballot for free tickets for key workers will open from noon today on brits.co.uk.

Pic cap: New rules: Dua is looking forward to the Covidconscious bash, hosted by Jack Whitehall PICS:  AVALON/GETTY

Little Mix aim to top charts with Saweetie melody

We’re sure Little Mix are smiling on the inside as they vamp up to make good on their promise of new music ‘soon’.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 29, Perrie Edwards, 27, and 28-year-old Jade Thirlwall pulled sultry expressions as they posed in black minis and PVC. The trio were unveiling a reworked version of their album title track Confetti with US rapper Saweetie, which drops next Friday.

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Little Mix are hoping to land their second No.1 this year after topping the charts with Sweet Melody — their final release with Jesy Nelson, who quit the band in December.

Their fresh charge at the charts comes amid claims of a £2million record label bidding war to snap up Jesy, 29, for her solo tunes.

Teen Wolf star on fame struggles

Rising star Froy Gutierrez admits he struggles to deal with what’s written about him on the internet.

The former Teen Wolf actor’s fame is gaining traction thanks to his friendship with Bodyguard hunk Richard Madden. 

Froy, 22, next to appear in US TV thriller Cruel Summer, told Wonderland magazine: ‘There’s a kind of lumping in of the character you’re playing with who you are that people do. And it can be hard not to internalise what you read about yourself. Words have power.’

The Tiger King’s health is claws for concern

Tiger King star Joe Exotic fears he will die in prison after revealing his health is worsening every day.

The 58-year-old big cat keeper is serving 22 years for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws. 

Exotic, who says he has an immune deficiency, anaemia and tuberculosis, said: ‘If I live through this, because my health is deteriorating by the day, I’m gonna go around the world and help the kids that have been born with cleft palates and fix their faces.’

Sprawl in a day’s work for Kylie and Madge

They are, respectively, the Queen and Princess of Pop — and Madonna and Kylie Minogue proved they are the wrinkle-free queens of sprawling on the sofa on the same day.

Both the Vogue singer and the Spinning Around star thrilled fans online yesterday with their age-defying fashion turns.

Madge, at 62, was like a naughty kid at the dinner table as she didn’t even finish her supper before playing up and lounging on the seat in her cornflower-blue suit. Meanwhile, Kylie, 52, got her feathers in a twist as she took part in a fashion photo shoot in her Australian homeland.

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