Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have failed to secure a nomination at this year’s Royal Television Society Awards for the first time in nine years.
The beloved Geordie duo have been missed off the list at the upcoming ceremony, which honours the “extraordinary talent evident across the UK’s television”.
Instead, The Voice coach Jennifer Hudson, Michael McIntrye, rapper Big Narstie and Mo Gilligan will go head-to-head for the Best Entertainment Performance gong instead.
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But Britain’s Got Talent, which the pair host, has been nominated for the Entertainment Award along with The Last Leg and Don’t Hate The Playaz.
Following Ant’s drink-drive arrest and stint in rehab last year, the pair didn’t make an appearance at the event in 2018 despite being nominated for an award. However, they didn’t bag the gong.
Despite Ant taking much of last year off to focus on his recovery, the duo still bagged the Best Presenter award at the National Television Awards earlier this year – making it their 18th win in a row for the category.
Ant was left overwhelmed when he and Dec were awarded the gong.
The Saturday Night Takeaway hosts were not at London’s The O2 to hear they had picked up the accolade as they were busy filming for this year’s BGT.
Shocked to find out they won the award, Ant said: “Oh wow. Wow. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, very much. This is a genuine shock, especially this year, I’m shaking here. I want to say thank you to everybody.
“I don’t feel I can accept this award this year, the one reason we got it because of this guy, his hard work, dedication, wit, funniness and being the best mate there is, I love you, well done.”
Dec added: “Thank you, thank you to everyone who sent kind and thoughtful messages while I was flying the flag for the two of us, I’ve got him back now.”
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However, while many fans were delighted to see the pair win the award, others felt Ant shouldn’t be accepting the gong.
But seemingly in response to negative reactions, the stars’ joint Twitter account retweeted a breakdown of Ant’s telly appearances, explaining to his detractors how he was indeed eligible for NTA recognition.
It said: “To those of you who are hating: Ant McPartlin hosted all 6 of the @BGT audition episodes last year & 3 of the @ITVTakeaway live shows, so he is eligible & they both deserve it.”
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