Piers Morgan has taken major issue with Ant McPartlin’s nomination for Best Presenter at this year’s National Television Awards.
The ‘Good Morning Britain’ host launched an attack against the star, who has spent recent months out of the spotlight focussing on his recovery, after he was convicted of drink-driving.
Having been absent from our screens since his arrest last March, Piers claimed Ant had not done enough to receive a joint nod at the awards alongside his co-presenter Declan Donnelly.
On Tuesday’s ‘GMB’, Piers raged: “He’s been on his backside all year!
“No work, walk the dog, get up, and he still gets nominated for the NTA! I mean I love Ant but really?
“Really? You’re going to give the award to someone who’s not done any work this year. I come in every day. I mean Dec should be getting one this year - solo.”
However, Piers seemed to have been forgetting that Ant still made numerous TV appearances with Dec prior to his arrest last year.
He appeared in eight pre-recorded episodes of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, and also fronted four episodes of ‘Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’, making him more than eligible for the award, which the pair have won for the last 17 consecutive years.
Dec hosted the remainder of both series of ‘BGT’ and ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ by himself, before being joined by Holly Willoughby for the most recent series of ‘I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!’.
Holly has been nominated for the Best Presenter NTA along with ‘The Chase’ host Bradley Walsh, chat show king Graham Norton and Holly’s ‘This Morning’ co-host Phillip Schofield.
It is not the first time Piers has spoken out against Ant following his arrest, despite previously being a friend of the presenter while he was a judge on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
Piers claimed Ant was no longer “the guy he knew”, before later commenting that he did not “deserve sympathy” following his conviction.
Ant is due to return to work in the coming days as filming begins on the new series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.