Ant and Dec won Most Popular Entertainment presenters at the National Television Awards, voted for by the public, for the tenth year running.
The comedy pair who front Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, among many other family-fodder TV shows, were not at London’s O2 Arena, due to filming Britain’s Got Talent in Cardiff.
The duo accepted the National Television award in a live video link, Ant said: “Thank you so much, this means so much to us. Ten years in a bloody row Declan. Ten years. We are so, so happy.”
EastEnders did well despite the recent controversial cot-death storyline and took the gong for best soap while Lacey Turner, who played Stacey Slater on the show, won Most Outstanding Serial Drama gong.
Other National Television Awards winners included Simon Cowell’s X Factor which quite predictably took home the gong Most Popular Talent Show and 82 year old Strictly Come dancing presenter Bruce Forsyth who won a Special Recognition award for his services to television while Sir David Frost, 70, took was honoured for Most Outstanding Drama Performance for his role as detective in A Touch of Frost.
The Top Gear trio of Jeremy Clarkson and James May and Richard Hammond accepted the award for Most Popular Factual Programme.
Picking up the award Clarkson and May couldn’t resist poking fun at the recent Sky Sports sexism controversy with May joking: “We’d also like to say a special thank you to the girl who tucked our microphones down our trousers.” Clarkson quipped back: “That’s it, you’re now sacked.”