Ant and Dec have broken their silence after Gary Lineker ended their 23-year winning streak at the National Television Awards, calling the former Match of the Day host a 'whippersnapper'. The duo, currently in South Africa for the upcoming series of I'm a Celebrity..., shared a video on Instagram congratulating Lineker on his Best Presenter win.
In the video, Ant McPartlin said: 'Thank you everyone who voted for us for the best presenter category, even though we couldn't get it across the line this year. We were beaten by an up and coming new guy, 64-year-old whippersnapper Gary Lineker.' Declan Donnelly added: 'Well deserved, congratulations Gary. Very well deserved, great speech too.'
Lineker, who left the BBC earlier this year after a row over a social media post, appeared shocked by the win. In his acceptance speech, he said: 'I think it demonstrates that perhaps it's okay sometimes for us to use our platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice.'
Backstage, Lineker praised Ant and Dec as 'brilliant' and said it was 'an honour to follow in their footsteps'. He also revealed a new ITV show, The Box, which he will start filming next week. Asked if the award proves he has not been cancelled, he said: 'I don't think anyone seriously thought that I was cancelled at any point. It was obviously just a mistake and oversight.'
