‘I was at the NTAs – the reaction to Gary Lineker’s win was incredible’

Last night, the great and good of British TV travelled to the London O2 for the National Television Awards. 

Yet it wasn’t just stars of the small screen who made the trip despite Tube strikes and the rain.

Entertainment journalists across Blighty had to get on their Sunday best and make the surprisingly difficult trip to the Greenwich Peninsula as well. 

That included yours truly, who got his velvet frock coat out of mothballs for a night of hobnobbing with the aristocrats of the airwaves. 

So how was it? Well, honestly, it’s a bit like a more high-stakes school prize-giving where you don’t have to pretend to care who won. 

Ok, that’s a bit glib. It was a truly historic night for NTAs that saw titans fall, clay figures praised, and countless bottles of fizz quaffed. 

Yet while the cameras might have caught the on-stage sights and sounds, there was plenty happening in the arena that the cameras couldn’t capture. 

So here’s what it was really like to attend the 30th NTAs.

Metro’s Deputy TV Editor, Tom Percival, reveals what it was like behind the scenes at the NTAs. 

A lot of love for Lineker 

If you take a look at social media this morning, you’ll see plenty of people are very pleased that Gary Lineker won the best presenter award. 

That feeling isn’t just contained to social media. When Gary’s name was read out, the cheers and applause were incredible. It was like Oasis had just wandered on stage, and as the Match of the Day theme began to play, it was impossible to stifle a grin. 

Were the attendees just happy to see an underdog triumph after Ant and Dec dominated the category for years? Potentially, but I don’t think so. 

There were so many celebrities keen to reach out and congratulate Gary as he walked to the stage. It was clear he was held in high regard by his colleagues,despite leaving the BBC earlier this year.

His exit occurred following accusations of antisemitism, after he reposted a video criticising Zionism that featured an illustration of a rat, an antisemitic trope.

In a statement, Lineker would later say he would ‘never knowingly share anything antisemitic,’ adding he had deleted the post ‘as soon as [he] became aware of the issue.’

Despite the context surrounding his win, Gary’s award was a historic moment made all the more poignant by his powerful speech about using your platform to speak up for issues that concern you.

Molly may have annoyed the public, but not the audience 

As I left the O2 and finally got a phone signal again, I was genuinely surprised by the reaction online to Molly-Mae winning the best authored documentary award. 

People were saying it was a ‘slap in the face’ and a ‘disgrace’ that she won while other ‘better’ documentaries lost. 

Now I can’t talk about the quality of Molly’s doc – I’ve got better things to do with my life than watch TV that’s clearly not made for me.

Maybe the other nominees were better. Maybe they weren’t. I don’t know. 

That said, what I will do is defend Molly-Mae from those people online, saying her acceptance speech – where she called her fellow nominees inspiring and praised the bravery of Rob Burrow’s family – was ‘false’ and ‘inappropriate’.

As someone who was in the room, Molly’s speech felt really authentic, as though she was swept up in the emotion of the night and was surprised she won. She seemed genuinely moved by everything, and I don’t get the vitriol.

I’m hardly alone in thinking that either. 

Her speech got a big round of applause (something not always guaranteed at the NTAs), and at least one person in attendance told me they thought it was a ‘classy move’ from the former Love Island star. 

Lee Mack’s joke that 1% of the room laughed at 

As a proud Northerner, it’s always lovely to see someone from outside the M25 win an award, so I was thrilled when Lee Mack and The 1% Club team took home a prize. 

It was also nice to see Lee deliver what was essentially a 30-second stand-up set where he teased the show’s creators, making fun of Ant, Dec and Gary Lineker (a new presenting trio?) and even himself.

That said, not every gag landed. In fact, one joke was met with deafening silence, and I know because it made me cackle, and I felt like I was the only one in the room laughing.

So what was the joke? Well, Lee recounted when he first heard about The 1% Club and was told by its creators they weren’t going to ‘dumb it down,’ to which he quipped, ‘and it’s defintiely on ITV’.

Sadly, from where I was sitting, it seemed like the punchline was met with all the enthusiasm of a fart in a lift. Don’t worry, Lee, I thought it was funny… just maybe remember who signs a lot of the celebs’ paychecks next time.

The EastEnders cast seem like a right laugh 

From bad jokes to good times now, because if I could choose to hang out with any celebs last night, it would have been the EastEnders cast.

The residents of Albert Square were the life and soul of the VIP section, cheering each other on, dancing at every opportunity, and generally just having the time of their lives.

The highlight was when Steve McFadden won the best serial drama performance award; the cheer was so loud you could probably hear it in Walford, and there was such an incredibly infectious sense of jubilation.

Basically, what I’m saying is that if it’s a choice between a pint in the Queen Vic, The Rovers of the Woolpack, I’m going to The Vic every time.

Joel Dommett deserves more work 

My close personal friend Joel Dommett (what else do you call someone you interviewed for 14 minutes over Zoom) got his fair share of praise last night. 

Most notably, Emily Atack asked ITV to give him some more work, and you know what? I agree. So I’m using all the power of the press to say, let’s get Joel another job. 

He was brilliant last night, managing to be funny and personable without making the show all about him. I know he’s on The Masked Singer UK and does guest stints on This Morning

I’ve seen presenters try to make award ceremonies all about them (I’m looking at you, Gervais), and it’s a bit tedious to be honest. 

Joel, however, as the kids say, ‘understood the assignment’, so why not throw him a bone? 

Oh, and Joel, if you do get a gig out of this, Emily and I can split the commission. 

If you’re ever asked to go on the red carpet, say ‘yes’ 

In case you’ve managed to read this far without realising yet, ‘I am an idiot’. Not my words, the words of my fiancée, who was flabbergasted last night when I turned down the opportunity to walk the red carpet. 

Did I do this because I think I’m ‘above’ the superficial world of celebrity? Absolutely not, I got into entertainment journalism to mix with the stars and collect Netflix tote bags like Pokémon cards. 

So why did I turn down the opportunity to feel the luxurious crimson polyester fibres between my toes (metaphorically, of course. I was wearing shoes)? 

Well, I thought the woman who gave me my tickets was asking me to go out and work on the red carpet, and I was already two Aperol spritzes in at that point, so I panicked, muttered something about my colleague Asyia already being out there (she was doing red carpet interviews) and scurried away.

It was only as we sat down that my fiancée asked why I didn’t want to do the red carpet, and I realised my mistake, leading her to brand me ‘an idiot’. Yup. She’s not wrong. 

People will steal your seat to meet a celeb

If the NTAs prove anything, it’s that people will do anything to meet their favourite celebs. 

I saw fans rush to the VIP seating area barriers every time there was an ad break, where they’d scream names until they got a selfie or a glance from their favoured star. 

Now I get this. I chose to put myself in a significant amount of debt to meet celebs for a living (I’m never paying off that student loan), and I’ve no regrets. 

What I didn’t expect was for people to steal seats to get closer to the stars. Indeed, one woman stole my seat while I was off getting a drink. Now she told me she’d thought it was empty, so no harm, no foul there.

What was slightly more awkward, though, was when security asked her to move, and she got into a row with the guard who was just doing his job. I know meeting famous people is cool, but let’s not use it as an excuse to be rude to people. 

Metro TV Reporter Asyia Iftikhar talks about covering the red carpet at the glitzy awards show.

Rainy red carpets are not all they’re scratched up to be

On the outside looking in, the red carpet seems like the most glamorous place on earth… until you stick it outside in British weather.

Clearly, the rain got the memo and started chucking it down just as the who’s who of British television started making their way down, leading to soggy feet for press and celebrity alike and a harried rush to whip out the umbrellas.

At the entrance of the venue – which all the celebrities walk through after doing the rounds – a steady deluge of water was trickling from on high, making it more of an obstacle course than anything else.

But hey, it’s all worth it in the end to see the showstopping outfits on offer and catch a chat with the nation’s favourite faces. As for getting their attention, make sure you warm up your vocal chords as there’s plenty of shouting, hooting and hollering.

Cheese ploughman’s and the unpolished celebs

Over in the chilly winner’s room, I pitched up with my phone ready to chow down on some delicious dinner – a Cheese ploughman’s and some cheese and onion walkers’ crisps.

No doubt exactly what the celebs were being served up on the other side of the O2.

If there’s one perk to the press room, it’s far enough into the night that nearly all the celebs are four or five drinks down and just about holding it together.

They may manage to make it through their speech up on stage, but come the winner’s room, the façade does start to fall apart.

Sian Welby declared she was several tequila shots down, Davina McCall was resisting pulling a naughty pose for the camera, and Jeremy Clarkson happily waxed on about not having a clue who Jay-Z and Beyonce were.

Oh, and Billy Ray Cyrus ominously stomped on stage to pose like a Madame Tussauds wax model. It’s near unfiltered chaos, and we’re here for it.

The 30th National Television Awards are available to stream now on ITVX

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