Kate Garraway says that it is “sad” her late husband Derek Draper could not see her nominated for another National Television Award (NTA) for a documentary about his health issues.
Garraway will be hoping to secure a hat-trick in the best-authored documentary category as she has been nominated for the prize again, this time for Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
Speaking from the red carpet on Wednesday evening, the Good Morning Britain presenter told the PA news agency: “The comments I’ve had and the emails and the letters have been so wonderful, and so obviously it’s been very sad in a way, because you’d love him to be here, or even if he wasn’t well enough to be actually here then to be going home to tell him all about it.
“But on the other hand, he will be so happy, I think that the issues that he wanted raised are being raised and so hopefully that’s good.”
Garraway said he would have been “very proud of these two”, referring to their children Darcey and Billy, who “get very shy at these things but wanted to come”.
She added that it is “wonderful” to have the “Draper gang”.
The programme followed the final year of Mr Draper’s life, before he died in January aged 56, after a lengthy battle with the long-term effects of Covid.
It follows on from two other programmes about his battle with Covid and her struggles navigating the care system, which both picked up NTA gongs in the category in 2021 and 2022.
However, Garraway thought it was “very unlikely” she would win against, also shortlisted former England captain David Beckham and pop star Robbie Williams, who both made Netflix documentaries.
Ramona Marquez, Daniel Roche and Tyger Drew-Honey – who will return to their roles as the three children in award-winning comedy Outnumbered this Christmas – told of how “special” it was to be reuniting on screen.
Marquez promised the holiday special will have “classic Outnumbered chaos”.
Roche told PA he was “big” on protecting British broadcasters.
“Like when they were talking about or when Channel 4 was at risk a couple of years ago I was deeply concerned about that because things like Outnumbered wouldn’t necessarily get made for a global audience,” he said.
“It’s a very British market. You have to fit that niche and the broadcasters cater to that niche and so yeah we’ve got to protect them.”
Contestants from the most recent season of The Traitors were hopeful for a win in their reality competition category, with disability model Mollie Pearce telling PA: “My mum’s a hairdresser. She’s been getting all her customers to vote.”
Asked what it was about the show that drew such an avid audience, Pearce said: “I think it’s just because everyone’s very normal and it’s all kinds of people, from walks of life, different places and you’re just thrown into this situation together.
“It’s like fighting to the death.”
Fellow contestant Diane Carson added: “It was so obviously not scripted.
“It was just human interaction.”
Amber Grappy and Jonny Weldon, from romantic drama One Day – based on the novel by David Nicholls – also walked down the red carpet on Wednesday evening.
Asked how it felt to take on something so beloved, Weldon told PA: “It’s just so lovely that it connected with so many people.
“Since the show’s come out I’ve had a lot of messages or met people in the street and they’ve said how much it meant to them and I just think that’s great, and a lot of hardcore fans of the books, and the main thing I heard is that we all apparently did it justice.
“I’m just very proud of the team that made the show.”
Grappy said it was her sister’s favourite book growing up, adding: “I think they’ve done such an amazing job creating the show and landing it in a way that resonates with people who care about it.”
The Netflix show is up in the new drama category, set to compete with ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which covered the Horizon IT scandal and shined a light on wrongfully prosecuted subpostmasters.
At the event, hosted by comedian Joel Dommett, actor Toby Jones is nominated in the drama performance category for his role as former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates, one of more than 550 claimants who have brought legal action against the Post Office.
It was announced last week that the ITV drama had been awarded the NTA Impact Award for creating a “huge cultural shift”.
Meanwhile, Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will seek to extend their winning streak in the TV presenter category to a historic 23rd year.
The Geordie duo is also up for best quiz game show, while I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway are nominated for the Bruce Forsyth entertainment award.
This Morning will also be hoping to regain the best daytime show crown after losing it last year, amid the furore of the Phillip Schofield affair.
The ITV morning programme, which is now fronted by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley after Schofield and Holly Willoughby both left in 2023, will compete against reigning winners The Repair Shop along with The Chase, Loose Women and Deal Or No Deal.
Netflix hit Baby Reindeer and its lead actress Jessica Gunning are up for the new drama and performance gongs.
It will broadcast live on Wednesday from 8pm on ITV1and ITVX.
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