In news that will surprise nobody, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have won the Best Presenter award at this year’s National Television Awards 2021.
They were at the annual ceremony which celebrates the nation’s favourite TV from over the past 12 months.
Fan favourites Ant and Dec have won the Best Presenter gong for the past 19 years in a row – making tonight extra special as it was their 20th nod.
The NTAs were back on our TV screens after 18 months away due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The awards ceremony was televised live on ITV and held at the iconic O2 Arena in London.
(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Taking over as host in this year’s proceeding was comedian and The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett.
Previous hosts of the annual TV celebration ceremony include Sir Trevor McDonald, David Walliams and Dermot O’Leary.
They bagged their first best TV presenter award all the way back in 2001.
In this year’s best TV presenter category they were up against former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan – who snubbed the award show, The Chase’s Bradley Walsh and This Morning’s Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond.
This was Alison’s first nomination for the award since taking the reins as presenter of a regular slot on the ITV daytime show alongside Dermot O’Leary earlier this year.
Piers Morgan’s fiery exit from Good Morning Britain attracted him 57,000 complaints earlier this year.
The outspoken journalist quit the ITV morning show instead of apologising for his comments made against the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
He even attracted a complaint from the Duchess herself when Piers dismissed Meghan’s claims that she felt suicidal when speaking in the explosive Oprah Winfrey interview.
During his chat on air with his co-presenters, Piers said: “I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she says. I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report.”
However, after months of investigation from broadcasting watchdog regulator Ofcom they cleared GMB, and said it was a “finely balanced decision”.
A spokesperson said: “Mr Morgan’s comments were potentially harmful and offensive to viewers, and we recognise the strong public reaction to them. But we also took full account of freedom of expression.”
“Under our rules, broadcasters can include controversial opinions as part of legitimate debate in the public interest, and the strong challenge to Mr Morgan from other contributors provided important context for viewers.
The spokesperson continued: “Nonetheless, we’ve reminded ITV to take greater care around content discussing mental health and suicide in future. ITV might consider the use of timely warnings or signposting of support services to ensure viewers are properly protected.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
