Emily Eavis has confirmed that next year's Glastonbury legend slot will be filled by a woman.

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Glastonbury previously drew criticism for its all male headliners during its 2023 festival. While Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and Elton John had truly electric performances, many festival goers were unimpressed with the lack of women on the bill.

Speaking on Sidetracked with Annie and Nick on BBC Sounds, Eavis responded to the criticisms of last year's headliners and confirmed that the Sunday legend slot will be a woman, which will, no doubt, be a joy to hear.

"I've always been really passionate about gender split [on festival line ups] and I think actually, our problem was that I'd been so outspoken about it that having a year where there wasn't a female sent people a bit mad, or some people," she told the hosts.

"And, actually, we did have a female, she pulled out and we replaced them with Guns (N' Roses) on the Saturday… But everyone who knows, knows that it's top of my list."

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Eavis continued to say she "always" tries to make the Glastonbury line-up "the most balanced, diverse bill", but admitted it can be hard at times because "there aren't enough headliners".

She added: "We're putting the bands and female artists on smaller stages and bringing them through all the time, so I feel like the pool is going to be bigger soon. And who knows, next year we might get two… And certainly I can say that the legend is female."

Madonna and Bob the Drag Queen perform during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena
Madonna and Bob the Drag Queen perform during The Celebration Tour. Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation

Rumours have been circulating online with the possibility of Madonna headlining the 2024 festival.

Emily Eavis was in attendance at Madonna's first show at The O2 in London, where she shared a photo of the singer's show on Instagram alongside the caption: "She's back! Incredible."

While speculation is at an all time high, nothing has yet been confirmed.

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It may be a while yet until we know who is headlining the festival, as Emily Eavis told Annie and Nick that the 2024 headliners have not been finalised.

"2024 is still a little up in the air… And I thought it was kind of taking shape, and then last week I just got a call, and this is what happens if you wait a little longer, because quite often we'll be booked up from July," she explained.

"This year we're holding out for a little bit longer and last week I got a call from a really big American artist saying this person’s around next year, and I was like oh my God, this is incredible, thank God we held the slot."

Glastonbury Festival 2024 will take place from 26th until 30th June 2024 at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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