Amid a hazy, purple, goat-scape in London’s Shoreditch Studios, Strongbow ULTRA gathered a brave group of celebs, including Lady Leshurr, Mark Wright, Chris Hughes, Mark Francis and Baga Chipz among others to fight their respective corners in an epic series of debates.The G.O.A.T (Greatest of all Time) was decided once and for all in a range of topics from football players and pop stars to superpowers and chicken shops.
For centuries young men and women have debated the issues of politics, philosophy, science, and high-brow culture but last night Strongbow ULTRA Dark Fruit, who has self-proclaimed to be the G.O.A.T cider, brought a fresh new look to traditional debating societies.
Alice Levine was on hand to oversee debate proceedings and to fully get the party started, DJ of the moment Sammy Virji provided a banging set. This included his song Daga Da, the sound of the summer which features on the new advert. From there, debaters took to the stage in pairs to pit their wits against each other in a series of quick-fire rounds. A watching crowd of 300 guests were tasked with making the deciding votes of the evening, giving a show of cans to seal the deal and crown the final G.O.A.T victors.
The cans were counted and the results came in, determining once and for all which music artist is the greatest of all time. Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Diana Ross, Taylor Swift and the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna missed out on the prestigious title as British rapper, singer songwriter and producer Lady Leshurr put up a fearsome fight for Nicki Minaj to be crowned the greatest of all time music artist, whilst her opponent, The Circle 2021 runner-up Manrika was firmly in Beyonce’s corner.
It was a close call, but Queen Bey’s crown was toppled on the night, thanks to Lady Leshurr’s impassioned speech which host Alice Levine called a love letter to the rapper, Lady Leshurr said: “Nikki Minaj doesn’t get the respect she deserves but she puts herself out there and gives back to her fans. She’s real and that’s why I can relate to her. She’s so lit!“.
Lady Leshurr has first-hand knowledge of Nicki Minaj giving back to her fans, after she turned down a £200k record deal to write a Nicki Minaj diss track. Miss Minaj reached out years later to thank Lady Leshurr for her integrity and invited her to join her on tour.
Despite her defeat on the night Manrika stood firm in her love for Beyoncé, saying: “Bey will always be my number one, she inspires confidence and independence in me and generations of women, she’s a true star”.
Other winners of the Strongbow ULTRA debating society included:
- TV personality and radio presenter Mark Wright – who raced to victory against Love Island favourite Chris Hughes. The debate was Messi Vs Ronaldo for the greatest footballer of all time, and while Chris put up a strong argument for the preening Portuguese, Mark won it for the diminutive Argentine magician with his closing statement. He proclaimed, “Messi isn’t my favourite football player, but if you’re asking who is the greatest of all time, I can’t say anyone else because the facts are there, it’s Messi”.
- Crystal, who triumphed over fellow drag queen Baga Chipz. Both took to the stage in a whirlwind of excitement and sass before going head-to-head in a hubris-packed debate to crown the G.O.A.T drag queen. In an impressive performance which included pulling a hot dog from her pants and using a sparkly hammer to push a nail into her nose, Crystal reigned supreme. On being crowned the victor, Crystal shouted: “Take that RuPaul!”.
- Mark Francis Vandelli, star of Made in Chelsea – who trumped Bobby Norris of TOWIE fame. The boys were campaigning for their own reality shows to be the G.O.A.T and in a witty – and sometimes catty exchange – Mark accused his opponent’s show of filling the world with rubbish. The crowd loved it and Mark took the purple goat trophy, only to hand it over to Bobby in a gentlemanly show of good spirit.
- Comedian Josh Berry vs Joanna Dring – who debated against him to crown the greatest of all time superpower. Despite picking a superpower to ‘Make People Love Him’ (and pulling out an inspired Hugh Grant impression) the crowd were not in the loving mood, voting ‘Ultimate Problem Solving’ to be the G.O.A.T superpower.
- And last but by no means least, ex Love Islander Theo Campbell who was the real winner, winner chicken dinner for the evening, beating opponent TikTok sensation Rachel Spicer to crown KFC the G.O.A.T chicken shop over Nando’s.
Alice Levine gave guests something to think about when she closed the debates for the evening saying: “The debates have been fierce and full of passion, a refreshing take on traditional debating societies! They’ve been settled for now, however you may continue them as we party into the night! We have answered some big quandaries tonight, but I think we can all agree that the question of whether it’s more important to find love or find the end of the Sellotape is a real thinker…”
HEINEKEN UK Cider Brand Director, Rachel Holms who was in the front row for the debates, said: “This G.O.A.T campaign is for a new kind of cider and by far one of our most intriguing yet. Our celebrity cast did us proud in settling the debate once and for all. We already know Strongbow ULTRA is the G.O.A.T cider, but now we know who’s the G.OA.T of everything else too.”
