National Television Awards 2018: Ant and Dec big winners

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - aka Ant and Dec - were the big winners of the National Television Awards last night, taking home three gongs.

Their wins included the inaugural Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award, created in honour of the British showbusiness legend, who died last year, The Guardian says.

The victorious duo - making their first public appearance since McPartlin announced his separation from his wife - were also named best presenters for the 17th time in a row.

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McPartlin said winning “really means a lot” after a year in which “he underwent treatment for depression, and alcohol and substance abuse”, the newspaper reports.

“It’s been a tough year for me personally, quite an emotional night, so to kind of top it off with three awards has been ... can I have a lie-down now?”

Peter Kay’s Car Share also had a good night, seeing off competition from Benidorm, Still Open All Hours and The Big Bang Theory to win in the Best Comedy category. Kay’s co-star Sian Gibson collected the award on his behalf at the ceremony, at London’s O2 Arena. Gibson told the audience: “He’s gutted he can’t be here tonight but he’s going to be over the moon.”

Kay recently cancelled his stand-up comedy tour, citing “family circumstances”.

The category was one of the most diverse in this year’s competition, according to the Radio Times.

Broadchurch beat Line Of Duty, Sherlock and Little Boy Blue to be named best crime drama. Collecting the award, Jodie Whittaker - who played Beth Latimer and is now starring in Doctor Who - dedicated the win to survivors of sexual assault.

Doctor Foster picked up the award for best drama, with Suranne Jones winning best drama performance for her role as scorned wife Gemma Foster.

“I can’t believe we’re here for a second season, it was wonderful enough that we were here for season one and it was a bit of a risk to make number two when something was so popular,” Jones said.