It wasn’t all bad news for Ant and Dec at the NTAs
National Television Awards viewers cried ‘daylight robbery’ after I’m A Celebrity picked up a big win at the event.
It wasn’t all joy for Ant and Dec, who lost out on the Best Presenter award at the event for the first time since 2001.
Winning the award 23 times in a row, the Geordie duo were heavy favourites heading into the ceremony which was presented by Joel Dommett.
In a result that few saw coming, Gary Lineker was crowned the winner over Ant and Dec, Alison Hammond, Claudia Winkleman and Stacey Solomon.
Poking fun at the duo, Gary said: “Blimey, I’ve won the Ant and Dec trophy. Right, what to say? Firstly, of course, thank you, thank you to everybody who voted for me.”
Gary went on to note that when he began working on Match of the Day he thought ‘the two young Geordies who were just making a name for themselves’ would win the NTA Presenter Award ‘until Newcastle have won a trophy’.
“It’s not lost on me why I might have won this award. Aside from presenting Match Of The Day – the most iconic football show on television – for 26 years,” he said.
Gary continued: “I think it demonstrates that perhaps it’s OK sometimes for us to use our platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice.”
It wasn’t all bad news for Ant and Dec, who were absent from the ceremony as they are currently filming I’m A Celebrity South Africa.
I’m a Celebrity was crowned the best Reality Competition of the past 12 months, beating a range of the UK’s most popular shows.
The 2024 series, which was won by Danny Jones, overcame stiff competition from The Traitors, Love Island and Race Across the World.
Collecting the award was Danny, who was on stage earlier in the night with his McFly bandmates to perform three of their songs.
The win didn’t appear to have gone over well on X, previously known as Twitter, with many fans of The Traitors believing it should have won.
@JStevo21 said: “Actual daylight robbery from #ImACelebrity. #TheTraitors is No.1 in reality competition and I won’t hear anything different. #NTAs.” @SeaThundr claimed: “Yet again the #NTAs are just a way for ITV to glorify their own shows. Surely manipulated online voting. How the hell is I’m A Celeb winning over Traitors?”
@uptheblades wrote: “How I’m a Celeb beat both The Traitors and Race Across the World is beyond me. They were both robbed. #NTAs.” @Barbsxoxox posted: “The traitors were robbed. Last year I’m a celeb wasn’t even the best season. #NTAs.”
@RyanSoapKing25 commented: “Love I’m A Celeb but The Traitors should’ve won that. #NTAS.” @solilioquy stated: “i’m a celeb??? over the traitors??? it’s a scam #ntas.”
