Glow Up season 4 2022: who is in cast of BBC Three series with host Maya Jama - and how to watch on Netflix

Aspiring make-up artists (MUAs) have battled it out to be crowned Britain’s next make-up star in the fourth series of BBC Three reality show Glow Up.

But, not to worry of you didn’t catch the series when it first aired in May 2022, you have another chance to catch up with all the dramatic looks and incredible skills as the latest season is now available to watch on Netflix - and this article doesn’t contain any spoilers!

The show, presented by Maya Jama, follows 10 MUAs as they go head-to-head in a series of challenges in a bid to impress industry professionals and also make a name for themselves in the beauty industry.

Viewers watch as they are put to the test in various professional assignments from TV to theatre, fashion to front covers, and online beauty campaigns.

The challenges are shown over eight hour long episodes, until just one remains and the winner is decided.

So, what will viewers see when they tune in to series four of the Glow Up, how can you watch it and who are the contestants?

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Glow Up about?

Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, which is often shortened to Glow Up, is a reality television competition aimed   at finding new makeup artists.

The contestants take part in weekly challenges to progress through the competition.

Each week, they each have to take on two different tasks: a professional brief which is usually set in the moment by a guest judge and a creative brief which they can prepare for in advance.

At the end of the professional challenge, the judges will choose a provisional bottom two MUAs before they all go into the creative brief.

Those two people are asked to sit in symbolic red chairs, while other contestants sit in blue chairs, and they are given a 15-minute penalty to complete their creative brief.

If an MUA in a red chair impresses the judges then they have “beat the seat” and another MUA who performed less successfully will be up for elimination instead.

Two MUAs ultimately end up in the face off, where they are each asked to show they can complete one make-up technique in just 15 minutes.

They each have one of two identical twins as models to make the contest fair.

The MUA who performs the worst is eliminated, and the other progresses onto the next episode.

The first series premiered on BBC Three in March 2019, with a second series following in May 2020 and a third series in April 2021.

Who are the judges of Glow Up?

The judges are Val Garland and Dominic Skinner.

Val Garland is L’Oréal Paris Global Makeup Director and also British Vogue Contributing Beauty Editor.

She has worked on various projects, ranging from highly conceptual catwalk shows for the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, to commercial celebrity shoots with Kate Moss.

Dominic Skinner is a Global Senior Artist for Mac Cosmetics. His job has taken him all over the world.

Series one and two of Glow Up were hosted by journalist and television personality Stacey Dooley, but she was unable to present series three due to clashes in her filming schedule.

Who is the host, Maya Jama?

The third series was presented by DJ and TV and radio host Maya Jama, and the fourth series is also presented by her.

Jama, 27, began her presenting debut as a teenager, presenting the weekly music video countdown on JumpOff.TV, and later worked for Sky UK on TRACE Sports.

In February 2017, she hosted the 2017 Pre-Brit Awards Party and also a Facebook live stream from the red carpet.

In September that year, she co-presented the Saturday night game show Cannonball on ITV with.

She was also a guest panellist on ITV chat show Loose Women in September 2017 and February 2018.

In November 2017, at the age of 23, she became the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards on Channel 5.

In 2020, she co-presented BBC One’s New Year’s Eve programme and just a few months later, In February 2021, she appeared as a celebrity guest judge during the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

Who are the contestants?

The ten new MUAs taking part in the fourth series of Glow Up are:

Charlie

Charlie describes themselves as a working class gender fluid queer artist on their personal Instagram page.

They said: “I do suffer from gender dysphoria, a condition where your own biology makes you uncomfortable. Make-up has been a huge step in being somewhat at peace with myself."

Rachel

A self confessed ‘science-geek’, Rachel works for a Covid vaccine company during the day and perfects her beauty looks by night. She describes herself as a beauty content queen on her personal Instagram page.

She said: “When I’m doing make-up I just feel like I’m in my element. Some people meditate, I do make-up.”

Mikael

Mikael grew up in Ghana and although he found moving to the UK a culture shock, he was pleased to find boys doing make-up. According to his personal Instagram page, he is a self-taught MUA.

He said: "When it comes to make-up, it has definitely changed the way I express myself. The style that I’m best at is dramatic, it gives me the opportunity to be weird.”

Yong-Chin

Yong-Chin studied fashion design at university in London, but when she graduated a lack of job opportunities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic led her to experiment more with make-up.

She describes herself as a make-up artist and creative director on her personal Instagram page.

She said: “I started to play with make-up a lot more and I started to really push for it to be a full time job. As a self-taught make-up artist I like to do really strong looks. I look at a lot of fashion make-up and I think why can’t I just wear that on my face every day?”

Kris

Kris is another MUA who learned his skill with make-up during the Covid-19 lockdowns. You can follow his journey on his personal Instagram page.

He said: “My superpower has always been my creativity. During lockdown, I taught myself how to do all the prosthetics and all make-up. I feel really ready to show the world my superpower."

Lisa

Lisa had always let her insecurities stop her from attempting to pursue a career in make-up - until now.

She describes herself on her personal Instagram page as a “self-taught shapeshifter”.

She said: “The thing that I most hope that I get through Glow Up is to show myself that even though I have those doubts, that actually I can do this."

Nancé

Nancé, who is originally from Congo, has been a freelance make-up artist for almost ten years.

She describes herself on her personal Instagram page as “a pro make-up artist and content creator”.

She said: “I don’t think there’s enough representation for people of colour in the make-up industry. There’s so many girls like me who wanna do make-up but it’s scary not seeing people who look like you doing the things that you want to do so I definitely want to be a face for that.”

Sophie

Sophie describes themselves as a perfectionist, and finds joy in make-up because it helps them to transform themselves into the characters they like to draw, such as pixies or fairies.

You can follow their journey on their personal Instagram page.

They said: “There’s so much restriction within being a human, you have to fit in to be part of society, it’s really nice to step out of that."

Ryan

Ryan, from Bolton, credits doing make-up with helping him through a dark time in his life.

He believes it also helped him to discover who he truly is. You can follow his journey on his personal Instagram page.

He said: “That was the time I refined those skills and I became the artist that I am today.”

Adam

Adam is hoping to make his late father proud by becoming a successful MUA.

He is a professional make-up artist and tutor, according to his personal Instagram page.

He said: "My make-up is definitely glam, glam, glam. The dream job for me would definitely be to become a celebrity make-up artist.”

When is series 4 of Glow Up on TV?

Series four of Glow up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star began on BBC Three on Wednesday 11 May at 8pm.

The series concluded on Wednesday 29 June at 8pm.

Each episode is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer and also on Netflix.

Can I watch other seasons of Glow Up?

Yes, you can also watch all the previous episodes from the first three series of Glow Up UK on BBC iPlayer now.

You can also watch the first series of Glow Up: Ireland on BBC iPlayer now.

The show follows exactly the same premise as the English version, but Love Island’s Maura Higgins is the host and there are also different judges