Dermot O’Leary hopes the National Television Awards give their prestigious presenting gong to someone else this year, rather than Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.
The famous telly duo have won the award for Best Presenter at the NTAs since 2001, and they’ve been nominated in the same category once again this year.
However, X Factor host Dermot has questioned whether the pair deserve the gong this year, as Ant took a lot of time off work last year – following his drink-driving arrest.
Dermot told the Daily Star: “If Ant and Dec win it this year, we should just not do it any more.”
“If they win it, we may as well just chuck in the towel. With the greatest respect to the boys, I think Holly has had such a great year, and Graham.”
When asked what Ant thought about being nominated, Dermot added: “They [Ant and Dec] made the decision that they want to put themselves up this year, so you’d have to ask him.”
Despite his comments, Dermot has since insisted that he was joking, and that his comments weren’t intended to be serious.
He tweeted: “I wouldn’t normally react to this, but… A) I said no such thing. I merely joked that if the boys win this year, we should all chuck in the towel. It was neither serious nor a ‘rage.’”
I wouldn’t normally react to this, but…
A) I said no such thing. I merely joked that if the boys win this year, we should all chuck in the towel. It was neither serious nor a ‘rage.’ https://t.co/eZWSabKHoO— Dermot O’Leary (@radioleary) January 16, 2019
The news comes after Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid discussed Ant’s nomination on Good Morning Britain – which sparked a debate online.
Piers said: “They’ll win, even though Ant has basically been sat on his backside walking his dog for the last year.”
While Ant joined Dec on their hugely popular Saturday Night Takeaway show last year, he missed out on presenting the Britain’s Got Talent’s live semi-finals, and I’m A CelebrityÂ… Get Me Out Of Here!
The presenter decided to take time off work after he was arrested for drink-driving in March, 2018.
After pleading guilty in court, Ant was slapped with an £86,000 fine, and banned from driving for 20 months.
