Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have been snubbed at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, two day after embattled presenter Ant was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.
The presenting duo, both 42, who have won 40 National Television Awards, missed out on two awards at the prestigious ceremony held at London’s Grosvenor House hotel on Tuesday.
Ant and Dec were nominated in two categories, Entertainment Performance for I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and Entertainment Programme for Saturday Night Takeaway.
Double loss: Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have been snubbed at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, two day after embattled presenter Ant was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving
Not to be: Last year the pair won the Entertainment Programme Award but were not able to replicate the success this year (pictured in 2017)
But they lost out on the night to The Last Leg and Love Island respectively.
They did not attend the ceremony after Ant’s arrest on suspicion of drink-driving on Sunday, following a three car crash.
Last year the pair won the Entertainment Programme Award but were not able to replicate the success this year.
Picking up the award for Entertainment Programme Love Island presenter Caroline Flack said ‘Everyone’s obsessed with other people’s love lives…and so are we!’ as she celebrated with the team.
Flack attack: The duo lost out in the Entertainment Programme category to Love Island, presented by Caroline Flack (above at the awards)
Glam: Picking up the award for Entertainment Programme Love Island presenter Caroline Flack said ‘Everyone’s obsessed with other people’s love lives…and so are we!’ as she celebrated with the team (pictured with a pal leaving the awards)
Strut; Caroline showed off her cleavage as she strutted out of the awards
Brunette beauty: Caroline worked a wild look as she headed home after the awards
Big win: Netflix drama The Crown picked up the special recognition award on the night
Beating the duo in the Entertainment Performance category was The Last Leg presented by Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdecombe, who took home the award for the second year running.
The RTS Awards recognise programmes which have made an impact on their genre, either due to originality, innovation or setting new standards in the industry.
Big winners on the night also included smash-hit Netflix drama The Crown, which took home the Special Recognition award.
Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones received the RTS Judges award for smash-hit sci-fi drama Black Mirror.
Trio@ Scooping an incredible three awards on the night was Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper for BBC Three sitcom This Country, which follows the lives of two young people living in a small Cotswolds village
Acclaimed; Three Girls, which focused on the events sold around the Rochdale child sex abuse ring picked up two awards for Mini-series and Writer- Drama category
Fierce: Planet Earth II won in the Science and Natural History category
Scooping an incredible three awards on the night was Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper for BBC Three sitcom This Country, which follows the lives of two young people living in a small Cotswolds village.
The overwhelmed pair won in the Scripted Comedy, Comedy Performance and Writer – Comedy categories.
Three Girls, which focused on the events sold around the Rochdale child sex abuse ring picked up two awards for Mini-series and Writer- Drama category.
Dynamic duo: Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones received the RTS Judges award for smash-hit sci-fi drama Black Mirror (pictured in October 2017)
Emotional: The Single Documentary accolade went to Rio Ferdinand for his heartbreaking documentary Being Mum and Dad (BBC One), which followed him and his three children as they grieved Rebecca Ellison
The Single Documentary accolade went to Rio Ferdinand for his heartbreaking documentary Being Mum and Dad (BBC One), which followed him and his three children as they grieved Rebecca Ellison.
Coronation Street beat out stiff competition from EastEnders and Holby City to win the Soap and Continuing Drama award.
Anita Rani won the Presenter category for My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947 (BBC One)
Other winners included Inside My Head: A Newsround Special (CBBC) in the Children’s Programme category, Muslims like Us (BBC Two) for Formatted Popular Factual, and Moving On – Eighteen (BBC One) for Daytime Programme.
Star-studded: Coronation Street won the Soap and Continuing Drama award (pictured above show stars Peter Gunn, Sue Cleaver and Melanie Hill at the awards)
Winner: Anita Rani won the Presenter category for My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947 (BBC One)
Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents secured the History award and World War One Remembered: Passchendaele – For The Fallen won the Live Event award – both produced for BBC Two.
Declan Donnelly looked downcast today as he was seen out for the first time since his best friend Ant McPartlin was arrested for drink-driving.
Donnelly is said to be ‘devastated’ at the problems that have forced his presenting sidekick to give up appearing on TV indefinitely and go back to rehab.
The 42-year-old kept his gaze on the ground as he walked with his wife Ali in west London today.
Dec, who has not spoken publicly on the arrest, is said to be ‘gutted’ for his friend of 29 years and worried for the future of the TV partnership.
The pair have previously insisted that they would only work together, writing in a joint autobiography: ‘Neither one of us would ever be on our own out there’.
Downcast; Declan Donnelly was pictured walking in west London today after he offered support to his troubled friend Ant McPartlin
There is a huge question mark over the future of the famous TV double act after Ant announced he was going into rehab and would stay off TV indefinitely.
A source told The Sun: ‘He’s just really upset about it all just on so many levels – gutted and worried about Ant obviously and devastated he’s going back to rehab. But he’s also worried about the future of Ant and Dec.’
Another source told the paper: ‘He’s very upset and needs time to make any decisions, which is why this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Takeaway was cancelled.’
In their 2010 autobiography, Ooh! What A Lovely Pair, Dec wrote: ‘We made an agreement – whatever happened, we’d be mates forever, and neither one of us would ever be on our own out there.
‘If it all ended tomorrow, we’d still speak every day, we’d still see each other all the time and we’d still be best mates. And that’s something we’re both very proud of.’
The pair are up for two awards at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Awards being held in London tonight.
TV favourites: The Sun reports the 42-year-old presenter, who has not spoken publicly on the arrest, is ‘gutted’ for his friend of 29 years, and worried for the future of the TV partnership
The TV presenter, 42, is seen appearing dazed as he climbs out of his £26,000 John Cooper, which smashed into two other cars and injured a three-year-old girl
The green Mini (pictured yesterday) in which the girl who was injured was travelling
Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway is nominated in the best Entertainment Programme category, which it won last year. The pair are also up for the Entertainment Performance Award for their work on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Ant is expected to stay away from the event. Dec has yet to confirm whether he will attend.
This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have said their friend Ant must take responsibility for his actions.
The TV presenters appeared sombre as they addressed McPartlin’s recent troubles, which have seen him step down from his television commitments in order to return to rehab.
Schofield said they were ‘shocked and saddened’ by the news and that it was difficult for them to talk about because they were ‘talking about a friend’.
He added: ‘The overwhelming feeling we believe has to be that, no matter who you are, no matter what you do, if you get into a car having had a drink the responsibility is entirely yours. We wish Ant and all those involved in these sad events all the very best.’
The two This Morning presenters were criticised by fans on Twitter on Monday for not speaking of McPartlin’s arrest, despite it being covered on ITV’s other daily programmes including Good Morning Britain.
It comes amid claims that Ant and Dec’s brand, honed over more than two decades, is under threat after the crash.
Brand expert Marcel Knobil told The Daily Star the pair’s clean-cut and family friendly image could be permanently damaged by the incident.
He said: ‘They are such a resilient brand and that has been demonstrated by the fact that it wasn’t too badly damaged by his previous troubles. But a brand has a breaking point and this could be it.
‘It’s very important to recognise that it’s only the most popular celebrities that are forgiven and that’s what he is. He has been forgiven to date but this really does up the volume’.
Popular Saturday evening show Saturday Night Takeaway will not broadcast this coming weekend, while a decision has yet to be taken about the remaining episodes in the series.
A rep for Ant and Dec told MailOnline: ‘Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments.
‘He has spoken with Dec and ITV today and asked for time off for the foreseeable future. As such Saturday Night Takeaway will not be going ahead this Saturday.’
While an ITV spokesman said: ‘TV has taken a joint decision with Ant and Dec’s team not to broadcast Saturday Night Takeaway this weekend.
‘We will be reviewing options for the last two episodes of the series (March 31 and April 7) which would not feature Ant who is taking time off to seek treatment. We very much hope that he gets the help that he needs.’
Ant – who split from wife Lisa Armstrong earlier this year after 11 years of marriage – was arrested at 4pm on Sunday after allegedly hitting two cars in his black Mini sports car while driving with his mother in Richmond, south west London.
He said: ‘They are such a resilient brand and that has been demonstrated by the fact that it wasn’t too badly damaged by his previous troubles. But a brand has a breaking point and this could be it’
Restaurant owner Faheem Vanoo and his wife Shilpa Dandekar were travelling with their four-year-old daughter Amaira when their green Mini was involved in a head-on collision with another Mini driven by the presenter.
Mr Vanoo said Faheem he does not care ‘whether [McPartlin is] a millionaire’ or ‘a famous TV star – he could have put my daughter in a wheelchair’.
The whole experience has just been a nightmare,’ Faheem told MailOnline.
‘It is not something that we ever expected, but we are just grateful that no one was hurt.
‘It has been a terrible experience and it feels like we are coming out of a nightmare. It has left us all a bit shaken up.’
Meanwhile a close member of McPartlin’s family said the Saturday Night Takeaway star is ‘distraught’ that children were involved in the crash.
Speaking to The Mirror, the family member added: ‘He is going through a bad time.
‘Ant and [his mother] Christine have bruises. They are sore and in shock. Thankfully everyone was fine and it was bruising rather than any serious injuries.’
An onlooker, Jake Spencer, said the Britain’s Got Talent star was argumentative towards cops when they tried to put him in a police car after he failed a breath test.