STEPPING ON TOES

National Television Awards 2020 pits dance show sisters Oti and Motsi Mabuse one against the other

OTI and Motsi Mabuse will be going head-to-head – not on the dancefloor but at the National Television Awards.

The glamorous sisters are both contenders in the TV Judge category, Motsi for her debut on Strictly Come Dancing and Oti for rival BBC1 talent show, The Greatest Dancer.

Getty - Contributor
Sisters Motsi (left) and Oti Mabuse will go head to head in National Television Awards 2020

GET VOTING NOW

For the full longlist go to mcb777.fun/ntas2020. VOTE for your TV favourites free online at or call 0844 646 2060 for a voting form.

  • Calls cost 5p plus your network access charge. Voting closes at 11pm Friday, October 25, 2019. Head to for tickets.

They will be vying for the viewers’ votes to try to dethrone new NTA host David Walliams, who won last year for Britain’s Got Talent.

Strictly will face stiff competition from BGT: The Champions, as well as the X Factor’s celebrity version in the Talent Show category at the event in January. The Sun is the awards’ official newspaper partner.

Serial winners Ant & Dec are, of course, contenders for TV presenter, alongside Holly Willoughby, who filled in for Ant on I’m A Celeb last year. There are some new faces in this category, including Rob Rinder.

I’m pleased BBC1’s World On Fire, ITV’s A Confession and Sky Atlantic’s Chernobyl have been recognised for New Drama.

The Categories

  • Challenge Show
  • New Drama
  • Talent Show
  • Drama
  • TV Presenter
  • Factual
  • Drama Performance
  • The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award
  • Serial Drama
  • Serial Drama Performance
  • Comedy
  • Newcomer
  • Live Magazine Show
  • TV Judge

Getty Images - Getty
David Walliams, with 2019’s Best TV Judge gong, will host the NTAs for the first time in January 2020

FRESH from her haul at the Emmy awards, Phoebe Waller-Bridge could add to her collection with nominations for Fleabag and Killing Eve.


I’M pleased to see Ricky Gervais’s Netlix hit After Life nominated for a Comedy Show award after a hilarious debut. I can’t wait for its second run.


THE reintroduced Challenge category will see The Great British Bake Off, Love Island, The Circle and Race Across The World compete. My money is on Love Island.


READ ON FOR MORE OF ANDY HALLS’ BIZARRE TV COLUMN


Hair we go again, Sarah

WRITER Jack Thorne got a feeling of dread while pitching a role to Sarah Lancashire in new drama, The Accident.

He realised her character, Polly, a hairdresser in the show, was one of the many jobs taken on by Raquel Watts, the Coronation Street role which made Sarah famous back in 2000.

Channel 4/The Forge/Simon Ridgway. Channel 4 images must not be altered or manipulated in
Sarah Lancashire plays hairdresser Polly in The Accident – her Corrie character Raquel Watts also worked as a hairdresser

But after the actress recently played a megalomaniac tycoon in BBC2’s MotherFatherSon, Jack felt it was actually a healthy contrast for his new drama, which starts on Channel 4 on October 24. He said: “She’s played a lot of strident strong people and, in Polly, she has to sit back and not be like that.

“I didn’t have Raquel in mind when I wrote the part but, as soon as she did pop in my head, I thought she’d turn the role down. But we’ve never mentioned it.”


bizbit

KATIE Price is joining the next series of brutal reality TV programme Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She will start filming the Channel 4 show, which sees stars receive tough military training, on Thursday.


Beeb in a Lottie trouble

BBC bosses are facing a major crisis after FOUR contestants on The Apprentice formally complained about Lottie Lion.

The objections include further allegations of remarks which may have been racist.

The Apprentice 2019 contestant Lottie Lion has had FOUR formal complaints lodged against her over alleged racism

It comes after Lottie told fellow contestant Lubna Farhan in a WhatsApp group to “Shut up, Gandhi” and “I’ll f*** you up”.

A source said: “Producers are concerned that it is now impossible to erase her from the pre-recorded show.

“They are holding crisis talks and are petrified of being labelled as racists.”

Even Lord Alan Sugar’s adviser and Sun columnist Karren Brady admitted: “Lottie is so condescending at times, bearing in mind she’s only 19. She’s what I call a young fogey.”

Lottie said: “I categorically deny being a racist. I have no further comment.”
An Apprentice spokesman said: “We are currently looking into the circumstances regarding a complaint.”


bizbit

RUSSELL Tovey leads the cast of ITV thriller, Because The Night, by Luther creator Neil Cross. The new four-part drama, which will air next year, also features Doctor Foster actor Bertie Carvel.


must watch

WHAT? Saving Lives at Sea, BBC2, 8pm.

WHY? RNLI volunteers at Lough Ree Lifeboat Station race to the rescue of the last inhabitant of a remote island. While in London, a dog is trapped by the tide on the River Thames. 

most read in bizarre

DUA YEAR'S EVE
Dua Lipa to host New Year's Eve bash with star guests including Harry Styles
LOVE OF HER LIFE
A look at the life of Joanna Page's husband James Thornton

So Berry grateful

MARY Berry may be 84 but she shows no sign of slowing down – in fact, she reveals she is grateful to keep busy.

The former Great British Bake Off judge said: “I have an enquiring mind.  I’m really lucky to be the age I am and to be so well.

“I see friends lose their memory. I have a very close friend, she worked with me a lot, she was always organising me and doing things I couldn’t, like crosswords.

“When you see friends who aren’t as well as you, I am very grateful.”

Sharp cookie.

BBC
Mary Berry with former co-presenter Paul Hollywood
Mary Berry and Huw Edwards get flirty on Britain's Best Home Cook
Exit mobile version