Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly missed picking up their 21st consecutive Best Presenter trophy at the National Television Awards as they are ill with Covid.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly missed picking up their 21st consecutive Best Presenter trophy at the National Television Awards as they are ill with Covid

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly missed picking up their 21st consecutive Best Presenter trophy at the National Television Awards as they are ill with Covid

The duo also won the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award at the ceremony in London’s Wembley Arena on Thursday. (13.10.22)

The Bruce Forsyth gong went to ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’, with ‘Emmerdale’ actor Danny Miller, 31, who won last year’s series of the ITV show, accepting the gong along with several other competitors from the 21st season.

Danny said: “On behalf of Ant and Dec who have Covid so they can’t be here tonight, Stephen Mulhern is in the crowd so I’m not sure why he’s not accepting for them.

“I’d like to say on behalf of the crew and castmates, although we had to have an evacuation, they managed to get us back on and we all got paid.

“A massive thank you to everyone who voted and everyone who made the show what it is. A massive thanks to the cast and crew and best of luck back in Australia.”

‘I’m A Celeb’ was nominated alongside ‘The Graham Norton Show’, ‘Taskmaster’ and ‘Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’.

Ant and Dec’s repeated presenting wins have previously caused a row, with former ‘Good Moring Britain’ host Piers Morgan hitting out at the decision year when they scooped their 20th win in a row.

He tweeted at the time: “Wow! What a shock! Congrats to Ant and Dec. Thoroughly deserved 20th consecutive win – the way they held those jungle contestants to account during the pandemic was absolutely brilliant.”

Earlier in the evening, Piers, who was absent from the 2021 show, also told fans online about how he knew he was likely to lose: “UPDATE: The @OfficialNTAs asked me who would accept the award on my behalf if I won Presenter of the Year. If I’ve won, I’ll come down and accept it myself', I replied excitedly, rapidly dusting off my Tux and tickling my speech. Since then, deafening silence.”

He also mocked the fact Ant and Dec win the sole presenter award each year, saying: “There are two of them and it’s a singular award, ‘Presenter of the Year’.”

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