ITV personalities Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were met with boos as they picked up the award for Best Daytime Show after This Morning was announced as the winner at National Television Awards on Thursday night (October 13) amid the backlash of ‘queue-gate’. This Morning scooped the prize, presented by Strictly Come Dancing’s Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin, after being nominated alongside Loose Women, The Repair Shop and The Chase. As soon as This Morning was announced the winner, Schofield was seen to break down in tears before heading to the stage to collect the award, where he said: “Please don’t ever feel like we get complacent…Thank you so much for everything.” Holly added: “You make our show for us, you really do.” The pair then pushed fellow This Morning presenter, Alison Hammond towards the mic, who earlier lost out on the Best Presenter award to Ant and Dec. She joked “I should have won one of these as well - you know what? Bradley Walsh, Graham Norton and the legends that are Ant and Dec are great, but I should have got one!” However, not everyone appeared pleased with the victory, as booing could be heard amid the cheers before the sound from the audience appeared to cut out. TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan said on Twitter: “A source at the ceremony says there were some boos in the room when This Morning won an “NTAs, but boos stopped during the speech.” Other people were also quick to point out that ‘awkward’ moment as boos were heard. One said: “95% sure #ITV just drowned out the audible boos This Morning received with a false cheering track, which has to be the most tragic thing I’ve witnessed.” Another added: “Not sure why they’re blocking out all the boo’s for Holly and Phil on the NTA’s.” On September 16, Willoughby and Schofield were observed using a queue for members of the press during the Lying-in-State of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, queue jumping’. ITV however defended the duo against the backlash, saying: “While it was absolutely clear at the time of booking that Phillip and Holly would be attending to report for This Morning, we would never share personal contact details for any of our onscreen talent and so the email addressed of the production members… were instead given.”
