BAFTA viewers reel as Ant and Dec and Strictly beaten by Masked Singer

14 May 2023 , 19:00
1193     0
BAFTA viewers reel as Ant and Dec and Strictly beaten by Masked Singer
BAFTA viewers reel as Ant and Dec and Strictly beaten by Masked Singer

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly missed out at the BAFTA TV Awards 2023 on Sunday evening, as they were beaten by a rival show for their only nomination of the evening.

Show rivals and past winner Strictly Come Dancing also missed out on the night, as the winner of the award for Entertainment Programme was announced.

Ant and Dec's show Saturday Night Takeaway was nominated once again alongside Strictly, The Masked Singer UK and Later... with Jools Holland: Jools' 30th Birthday Bash.

As cast and crew from the nominated dramas, soaps and other TV shows waited to see who the winners were on the night, it was confirmed Masked Singer UK had won the Entertainment Programme trophy for 2023.

The news came as a surprise to show host Joel Dommett who joked about Strictly always winning "everything" as he accepted the award.

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness eiqridrtiqkdinvEastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
BAFTA viewers reel as Ant and Dec and Strictly beaten by Masked SingerAnt and Dec during a Saturday Night Takeaway appearance (ITV)

Saturday Night Takeaway was first nominated at the awards in the same category in 2004, while in the previous year the hosts won the award for another of their hit shows, I'm A Celebrity.

Ant and Dec also won in 2010 with Britain's Got Talent, but it wasn't until 2014 that SNT was nominated once more - and the boys secured the award.

They won again in 2015, 2017 and last year in 2022, while the show was nominated in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

As for Strictly Come Dancing, the show wasn't nominated in this category until 2014, and has been nominated every year since except for 2018 when it was snubbed.

With Masked Singer winning, viewers were pretty divided with one writing on Twitter: "Nothing sums up the current state of TV quite like The Masked Singer winning the Entertainment Programme BAFTA."

Another said: "The masked singer really ffs," as a third added: "Sorry but no. The Masked Singer? Absolutely not."

BAFTA viewers reel as Ant and Dec and Strictly beaten by Masked SingerMasked Singer UK had won the Entertainment Programme trophy (ITV)

Others were thrilled, with one writing: "I thought Strictly was gonna win that award! I’m glad The Masked Singer won though!"

Another added: "Woohoo!! I know it’s a bit silly but I LOVE The Masked Singer. Just so much fun and brings me joy."

Meanwhile, earlier this year some stars hit out at the nominations list after many shows were snubbed.

The announcement for the TV BAFTAs saw the likes of The Crown, The Responder and Somewhere Boy up for gongs but the daytime category had just three nominations.

Bird charity banned from Twitter for repeatedly posting woodcock photosBird charity banned from Twitter for repeatedly posting woodcock photos

Despite a string of shows being aired across the day, only The Chase, Scam Interceptors and The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit have been recognised.

One star of daytime TV in particular, former Pointless star Richard Osman, shared his frustration with the “snobbish” industry.

Taking to Twitter in view of his 1.2 million followers, The Thursday Murder Club author penned at the time: "Daytime TV punches far above its weight in terms of ratings, cost & popularity.

"To have only 2 daytime shows on this list is a bit of a kick in the teeth for producers.

"If I made Bridge Of Lies, HUTH [Homes Under the Hammer], Come Dine [With Me], Lingo etc I think I'd feel robbed. Why bother having the category?"

Richard went on to say: "Apologies for such a TV-centric tweet, but it can be such a snobbish industry sometimes."

The BAFTA TV Awards 2023 is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

Charlotte Tutton

Print page

Comments:

comments powered by Disqus