My Experience at the National Television Awards
It's incredible to think that on this day, last year, I was stood on the red carpet at the National Television Awards at The O2 in London, being able to meet, chat to and stand less than 2 meters away (I know, UNTHINKABLE!) from many of Britain's most-loved television stars!
Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken over the world (obviously- if you're reading this and didn't know that, then you've been living under a rock!) and award shows have had to dramatically adapt around the circumstances- by either postponing or cancelling the event or by changing the way that the show runs completely! An excellent example of this, was the Emmy's back in September of last year, which involved no red carpet, celebrities accepting awards and making speeches via. Zoom and the host broadcasting from an empty theatre!
However, back to last year, I am writing this blog post to give you an insight of what it's like to be on a real award show red carpet and to explore how the pandemic have affected the lives of the celebrities that I met, which is something that none of them could've predicted at the time!
Wanting to meet and speak to lots of celebrities on the red carpet can be very hit-and-miss. They may be being rushed along by their agents and not have time to stop for a chat or in some cases, they might just ignore you calling them over and keep shuffling along to the photographers down the other end. However- in most cases- the celebrities see you, come over, take a photo, and even sometimes stop for a little chat! I know that in my case, I have met lots of lovely and kind celebrities on red carpets over the last few years and that many of them really seem to enjoy stopping to meet fans and press.
A shot of the NTA red carpet- before it became so busied with celebrities!
There is lots of excitement on the red carpet when the fabulous television stars start to walk down, but none more-so than when Ant and Dec come down (who are obviously fan-favourites at this award show, as they have won the National Television Award for 'Best Presenter' for the last 19 years in a row!)
Since I was lucky enough to meet them at the awards, they have (despite the Coronavirus pandemic) had a very busy year on our screens! They 'bubbled' together to be able to continue working without having to keep 2 meters away from each other! They also aired their 16th series of 'Saturday Night Takeaway' at the start of the year- with is being the only series in the programme's history to feature pre-recorded episodes (due to the Coronavirus pandemic). It was also, unfortunately but understandably, unable to feature a live studio audience which, on a normal year, is such a huge part of the series! They also hosted Britain's Got Talent- which had to be aired in two different halves- one being the pre-recorded auditions and then, following a break to get regulations in place for social-distancing in the shows, the lives. They ended the year by hosting I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. However, this year it was located in a Scottish castle- instead of the Australian jungle- due to Covid-19 travel restrictions!
However, as with most award shows, there are also the celebrities that are seen less-regularly on a red carpet and whom are more than happy to come over for a longer chat (in this case, the chat involved me asking Diane Morgan about her starring in one of my favourite television programmes- Motherland). She even said that she was surprised anyone had recognised her when I called her over! Since I got to meet her, Diane Morgan starred as much loved character, Liz, in a Christmas special of the comedy series and nearer the beginning of the year, she featured in series two of smash-hit dramedy, After Life, as Kath. She also starred as Mandy in the comedy of the same name, on BBC Two- which she also wrote.
I was also lucky enough to meet Alan Carr (no, we're not wearing the same glasses), who has had a busy year this year, despite the lockdown, keeping us entertained hosting Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow.
The stars of 'Gavin and Stacey' were also out in-force following the extremely popular return of the comedy for a one-off Christmas special, just the month prior to this. In fact, the special proved so popular that they won the National Television Impact Award. Unfortunately, to many fans disappointment, when accepting the award they didn't announce a fourth series!
Alison Steadman, who plays Pam in 'Gavin and Stacey', (top left hand corner) also starred this year in film 23 Walks, hit BBC drama Life and one-off comedy Pandemonium- about a family struggling during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Other leading stars Mathew Horne (bottom right corner) and Joanna Page (middle left) also continued the trend of reuniting on Christmas Day and joined forces this year to host a radio show on BBC Radio Wales.
Another crew that gets the red carpet buzzing are the This Morning team.
Phillip Schofield had a huge year since the awards shows as he has presented the show- keeping viewers at home entertained all throughout lockdown- whilst remaining socially-distanced from his co-host Holly Willoughby.
He also came out as gay in February (just a week after the award show) in a statement on Twitter and then on an emotional edition of the ITV magazine show.
Eamonn Holmes also had a very busy year- hosting the Friday and holiday editions of the show. Until he and his wife Ruth were controversially replaced on the Friday slot by Alison Hammond and Dermot O' Leary at the end of this year, after 14 years on the show!
Since Jessica Plummer hit the red carpet with the rest of the cast of EastEnders in January 2020, she has gone on to leave the role of Chantelle Atkins, in an incredibly powerful and highly- praised domestic abuse storyline. She then, at the end of the year, was a fan-favourite in the latest series of I'm A Celebrity- finishing in seventh place!
Another extremely popular BBC soap star, Cathy Shipton, has also since left her role. But this time exiting from Casualty after an incredible 34 years portraying Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin!
Cathy Shipton seemed like an extremely cheery person as she walked down the red carpet and she was the only person I saw up and dancing during the musical performances in the show!
I hope that you've enjoyed my brief run-through of my experience on an award show red carpet and how just a few of the TV stars that I met still managed to have jam-packed years, even despite the pandemic. I hope that soon award shows will be able to run again like normal, and without the use of Zoom!