‘I was at last night’s National Television Awards 2026 – I almost broke down in tears’

It was an emotional night at Tuesday’s National Television Awards.

It was a night of revelry, but there were two poignant moments where I felt as though I was going to burst into tears, a lump forming in my throat.

When I first walked into London’s O2 arena, I was struck by the surreal scene unfolding before my eyes. A few metres away to my left were the entire cast of EastEnders, who were in high spirits despite losing their big awards to Emmerdale. 

Ahead of me, I could see The Chase stars Anne Hegerty, Shaun Wallace and Paul Sinha chatting away. Scattered amongst the audience were the stars of Strictly Come Dancing, The Traitors, Line of Duty, This Morning, Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash, recently loved-up Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks, and many more. 

At one point in the evening, Holly Willoughby came on stage to present the award for authored documentary. The nominees included the documentaries about Caroline Flack, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Jesy Nelson, and Sir Chris Hoy, but the prize ultimately went to the documentary about the families affected by the tragic Southport attack.

The parents of the young girls who were killed came on stage to accept the award, and I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the room. I was in awe of their strength, their ability to speak in front of people watching across the UK, after suffering unimaginable losses.

‘I can’t believe I’m stood here,’ said Jenni Stancombe, the mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe. ‘This is a documentary that should never have been made.’ 

It felt like a privilege to be in their presence, as thousands of people in that room and many more watching at home vowed never to let their daughters be forgotten.

One viewer called Cath wrote on X: ‘Absolutely heartbreaking to see the parents of Elsie Dot, Alice & Bebe onstage at the #NTAs to collect the award for Our Girls: The Southport Families. Such courage in facing the unthinkable & an award that simply should never have been needed. RIP little ones 💔.’    

‘This programme should never have needed to be made.  My heart goes out to the brave families of these girls 💔,’ Judy tweeted, while Chloe added: ‘I cried non-stop watching that documentary. Well deserved.’

I’ll never forget being in the room at that moment, when an incredibly powerful TV documentary brought everyone to their feet, clapping sombrely as we remembered three precious lives who were torn cruelly from this world.

Another big NTA prize was the special recognition award, an accolade that’s given to someone completely unaware who deserves to be celebrated on a wider scale. Previous recipients include Davina McCall, David Tennant, Sir Billy Connolly and Dame Joanna Lumley. The cream of the crop of British talent – so who could be next?

As soon as Paloma Faith popped out of a Celebrity Traitors-inspired coffin on stage, it was clear that there was only one contender for the award – the Chatty Man himself, Alan Carr.

As if the serenade to Alan wasn’t emotional enough, while a compilation of his best TV moments played on screen, the camera panned to the comedian. He was in floods of tears, seemingly unable to grasp the fact that he is a national treasure.  

The tears welling up in my eyes threatened to pour down my cheeks when he came on stage to make his speech, and was interrupted by a resounding chant of ‘Alan! Alan! Alan!’ around the arena. It was a spectacle to behold.

Gazing at the audience, he said: ‘I looked out there and saw people I interviewed, runners and producers who are now getting NTAs themselves… it all came together in one big thing and I think that’s why I got a bit upset.’

It’s almost a year since Alan revealed that he was a Traitor to David Olusoga and Nick Mohammed, winning the jackpot for his chosen charity Neuroblastoma UK. However, his legacy lives on, especially as we gear up for season two coming very soon.