Piers Morgan has reacted after losing out on the Best Presenter award at Thursday night's National Television Awards which saw Ant and Dec scoop the title for the twentieth year in a row.
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The former Good Morning Britain presenter, who was noticeably absent for the live ceremony held at London's O2 Area, took to Twitter following the announcement, writing: "Wow! What a shock! Congrats to Ant & Dec. Thoroughly deserved 20th consecutive win - the way they held those jungle contestants to account during the pandemic was absolutely brilliant.
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Plenty of fans took the opportunity to poke fun at the TV star for losing. One wrote: "Would Sir like any cheese with his sour grapes?" Another said: "I'd love see the actual number of votes I reckon you probably did come second", followed by a laughing-face emoji.
Earlier in the evening, Piers made another comment that suggested he knew he was set to lose. "UPDATE: The @OfficialNTAs asked me who would accept the award on my behalf if I won Presenter of the Year," he tweeted, adding: "'If I've won, I'll come down and accept it myself', I replied excitedly, rapidly dusting off my Tux and tickling my speech. Since then, deafening silence."
The presenter even made a tongue-in-cheek swipe at the I'm a Celebrity duo ahead of the awards, expressing how he thought they were "cheaters" for winning every year due to being a pair and not a singular "presenter". "It is [cheating]", he cheekily said in another post on Twitter: "There are two of them and it's a singular award, 'Presenter of the Year.'"
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Ant and Dec beat Piers Morgan for Best Presenter award
However, it's clearly all in good fun, as the broadcaster, who left his position as anchor on Good Morning Britain earlier this year, followed his follow-up tweet with a number of laughing-faced emojis.
It comes soon after Piers wondered if he would be awarded his job back on the ITV morning programme following the Ofcom ruling regarding his comments on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Oprah Winfrey interview earlier this year.
Taking to Twitter, Piers wrote: "BREAKING: @Ofcom rejects all complaints against me over Meghan Markle furore that led to my exit from @GMB. Verdict says I was entitled to disbelieve her & Prince Harry & to restrict my right to do so would be a 'chilling restriction on freedom of expression.'"
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