Could off-the-air Ant STILL pick up top TV awards?
HIS conviction for drink-driving meant he kept away from our TV screens for most of 2018.
But Ant McPartlin could still win a best presenter gong. Even though his co-star Declan Donnelly hosted most of their shows without him, the duo are on the shortlist for best TV presenter at this month’s National Television Awards.
The pair, both 43, have picked up the accolade for the past 17 years on the trot, most recently in January last year.
Their ITV show, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, is also in the running for the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award. And Donnelly has been nominated for ITV’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! which he presented alongside Holly Willoughby in McPartlin’s absence.
Ironically, she is also one of the shortlisted hosts in the running for the best presenter gong, along with Bradley Walsh, Graham Norton and Phillip Schofield.
McPartlin was banned from the roads for 20 months and fined £86,000 last year following a drink-drive crash in London in March. The star entered rehab for the second time following the smash and said he was taking a break from TV until this year. He did not present the Britain’s Got Talent live shows and Miss Willoughby filled in for him in Australia. Richard Madden – who has scooped a best actor Golden Globe for playing the brooding protection officer David Budd in BBC1 drama Bodyguard – is up for the best drama performance award.
The show will also face rival BBC series Killing Eve in the new drama category.
Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice UK, Dancing on Ice and The X Factor are all nominated for best talent show. The Great British Bake Off will be up against last year’s winner Gogglebox in the factual entertainment category.
The National Television Awards will be broadcast live on ITV on January 22.