Canadian crooner Michael Bublé 'honoured' to host Brit Awards 2017 for the first time

The Brit Awards 2017 have been given a makeover with singer Michael Bublé set to host the prestigious awards. The Haven't Met You Yet crooner, who hails from Canada, is now the third non-Brit to host the awards following on from Australian Kylie Minogue and American RuPaul (who co-hosted with Elton John in 1994).

Bublé, 41, replaces presenting duo Ant & Dec who stepped down from their hosting duties after the 2016 awards ceremony. Confirming his new role, Bublé said in a statement: "It's a huge honour for me to host such a big night in music.

"Even though I didn't grow up as a Brit I've always been well aware of The Brit Awards and their impact globally. As a fan of music this is the perfect gig. I'm very much looking forward to February and celebrating the success stories of a great year in music."

Brits chairman Jason Iley chimed in: "This is a huge coup for The Brit Awards and we are delighted to announce Michael as our host for 2017. He is an extremely talented and charismatic world-class entertainer much loved by the British public. Michael will add an exciting element to our show in 2017."

Bublé has received three Brit Award nominations over the course of his career and has sold over 32 million albums worldwide. Gracing the stage at London's O2 Arena is nothing new for Bublé, who has performed at the iconic venue 15 times so far. The Feeling Good hitmaker will release his ninth album Nobody But Me on 21 October.

The Brit Awards 2017 nominations will be announced during a live broadcast on ITV on Saturday 14 January while Bublé will host the official awards ceremony on Wednesday 22 February at the O2. Ant & Dec had hosted the awards three times but decided to bow out to focus on other projects. Addressing their departure, the duo told Digital Spy: "We had such fun last year that we thought, 'Oh go on, let's do it one more time'. But this is it. This is definitely it.

"This beginning of the year bit for us is so busy with Britain's Got Talent [auditions] and Saturday Night Takeaway, that it's too mentally busy for us. So it's just one more and then we'll hand it over to someone else."