What could have tempted Tess and her hubby to host takeaway awards? The £37k fee, perhaps!
IT is a far cry from the showbiz glamour of Strictly Come Dancing, where Tess Daly spends her Saturday evenings.
And it is even a few notches below ITV’s All Star Family Fortunes, presented by her multi-millionaire husband Vernon Kay.
On Monday night, the TV power couple got dressed up for a rather more humdrum reason: To celebrate an unassuming chippie.
They lavished praise on Chris’ Fish ’n’ Chips, in Barwell, Leicestershire, a fast food shop famed for its ‘deliciously crispy’ fish.
The owners – Stratis and Gina Kyriacou rather than ‘Chris’ – were the winners of the inaugural British Takeaway Awards, a money-spinning event which claims to ‘reward the dedication of local takeaway owners across a multitude of cuisines, recognising their contribution to our economy on a truly national scale’.
The presence of Kay and Miss Daly at the ceremony comes after BBC News at Ten anchor Huw Edwards hosted last week’s Concrete Society annual awards. Edwards would not confirm how much he was paid, but according to websites for public speakers he charges up to £15,000 for an evening’s work.
Kay and Miss Daly – who already earn more than £1million a year as television hosts – declined to reveal how much they were paid for their three-and-a-half-hour appearance.
However, according to speakers’ websites they charge up to £37,000 for presenting an awards ceremony.
Winning takeaway owners the Kyriacous said they were ‘a bit star-struck’ by Kay and Miss Daly’s presence at the event, held at London’s Savoy hotel.
Mrs Kyriacou said: ‘The fact that Vernon and Tess hosted it was amazing. I felt like we were at the Baftas.’ Mr Kyriacou said: ‘The first thing Tess said was, “I love fish and chips. They are my favourite takeaway”. Even celebrities like takeaways.’
During the ceremony, sponsored
So that’s what Huw does on his night off ... talks to the Concrete Society
From last Saturday’s Mail
by online takeaway service Just Eat, Kay and Miss Daly put on a double act littered with foodthemed puns.
She told the crowd he was ‘trying to curry favour with you lot’, while he told a joke about going to a Chinese restaurant. ‘The lights were a bit bright so I said to the owner, “Excuse me, can you dim sum”. He said, “Hey, no Peking!” I said, “You’re crackers”.’
Not everyone was impressed. One source said it was ‘cringeworthy’, adding: ‘Tess looked like she was forcing a smile all night while he read dreadful gags off the autocue.
‘They presented the awards but they didn’t mingle with any of the guests. They were clearly just there to get their money and run.’
Have you been at an awards ceremony hosted by a celebrity? Do you have pictures? Contact k.rushton@dailymail.co.uk