Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand” Crowned TikTok UK Song of the Year After Jet2 Meme Went Viral
Jess Glynne’s 2015 hit Hold My Hand has officially taken TikTok’s UK song of the year title — all thanks to the wildly popular “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” trend that turned travel disasters into comedy gold.
The track, which is mainly linked to Jet2 ads, blew up this year as TikTok users paired it with clips of chaotic airport moments, hotel surprises, and generally questionable holiday luck. TikTok says the sound has appeared in about 6.6 million videos, and posts using it have pulled in more than 80 billion views.
Glynne, now 36, said the recognition feels surreal a decade on. She told BBC Newsbeat she “feels blessed” and called the whole experience “insane,” explaining how much the song meant to her when it first launched her solo career. She said the trend has given the track a “new lease of life” and made it one of her favourites to perform.
Talking about why the song still resonates, she said, "Melodically, it’s instantly uplifting and catchy, but at its heart, the lyrics are powerful… ‘Darling hold my hand’ is as powerful as it is simple." She added that seeing a new generation discover the track has been “incredible.”
The Jet2 meme got an extra boost from voiceover artist Zoe Lister, whose delivery of the now-iconic line “nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” helped push the trend across millions of feeds. Glynne said her favourite clips are the ones where parents get their kids to say the line — though the video of a man discovering a tiny hotel window “like a prison cell” is the one that made her laugh the most.
The singer even admitted she once heard herself playing over the plane speakers on a family trip, saying she was nervous sitting beside her mum as the track came on.
Even though Hold My Hand didn’t re-enter the UK charts this year, it ranked second on TikTok’s global songs list for 2025. TikTok noted that older tracks have been making big comebacks across the platform — from Rihanna’s Breakin’ Dishes to Radiohead’s Let Down. But the global song of the year was the 1962 classic Pretty Little Baby by Connie Francis, which has been used more than 28 million times.
Glynne says the whole experience shows how powerful social media can be for artists: a song can suddenly find new life, new meaning and a brand-new audience — even 10 years later.
