Paul Dennison wins Mr Gay Europe 2022

England with Paul Dennison took home the victory and the trophy of Mr Gay Europe 2022 after a very close race for the top place in the final.

After two years with cancellations due to travel restrictions and the Covid epidemic, the 14th Mr Gay Europe finale took place on Saturday 20th August, at Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, England.

This year a total of eight delegates were to take part in the final run for the title in historical and magnificent surroundings at Alnwick Castle and Garden in the north of England.

For a long time, it was discussed back and forth whether to go on with the event since originally several delegates had to cancel due to restrictions caused by the Covid epidemic, and the final eight was reduced to four due to quarantine, positive tests etc. Even volunteers and members of the MGE Team had do stay at home because of the virus.

Determined not to let the virus stop the competition once again, this year’s producer Stuart Hatton Jr and the MGE president Tore Aasheim made the decision to go ahead with the competition.

In hindsight a decision the president is glad was made.

“We are fighting a battle on many levels; anti-gay trends across Europe, the virus, mental health – I think it was important to just go ahead, and show the world and ourselves that we had not given in,” Mr. Aasheim says before adding, “Getting to know the finalists and learning more about their work, engagement and passion for gay rights we realized we had an excellent group of finalists.”

The four countries that took part in the finale were Czech Republic, England, Italy and Ukraine.

Paul Dennison from England is the new Mr Gay Europe, and he will hold the title until the new competition takes place in August 2023.

It was however a close race, and in the end, it was the finalists’ own assessment of each other that determined the final ranking.

After a week of hard and demanding challenges like personal interview, written test, sports challenge, presentation of projects etc, the numbers were so even that the choice of Mr Congeniality could tilt the result in several directions.

In the end, the results from all the challenges add up to a final score. The maximum score a delegate can get is 1200 points. England won with 950, Italy came second with 940 points. A very close call.

The registration for Mr Gay Europe 2023 opens at the end of November 2022. The venue for next year will be announced at the same time.