Alan Carr was left stunned after being presented with the Special Recognition award at the National Television Awards, having only realised the tribute on stage was for him when Paloma Faith appeared in a coffin.
The comedian’s close friends Amanda Holden and Faith had kept the honour secret before the ceremony at London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday, September 8, where they performed a dramatic rendition of I Know Him So Well.
They were joined by fellow Celebrity Traitors stars Charlotte Church, Kate Garraway and David Olusoga, turning the presentation into one of the most theatrical moments of the evening.
Faith provided an added flourish by pushing past Church and Holden to reach the front of the stage during the song’s climax, prompting laughter from the audience and a stream of amused reactions from viewers.
Carr, who triumphed in the BBC’s celebrity edition of The Traitors, admitted during his acceptance speech that he had been slow to understand what was happening.
“This is how thick I am, it was only when Paloma came out that I realised it’s me,” he told the audience. “I should have realised when they put me in the front row, I’m usually in the back with the people from Naked Attraction.”
As he left the stage arm in arm with Holden, Carr appeared to jokingly call her a “little b***h” for managing to keep the surprise from him.
Holden later said she had been nervous about giving the game away and had tried not to contact her friend in the run-up to the ceremony. She also arrived early on the red carpet in an attempt to avoid bumping into him.
The tribute followed Carr’s second major moment of the night, after The Celebrity Traitors won the award for Reality Competition. Church accepted the prize alongside the cast after Carr’s dramatic unmasking as a traitor in the series finale.
The ceremony, hosted by Joel Dommett for the sixth consecutive year, also saw Sir David Attenborough named TV Presenter, while Jeremy Clarkson’s Clarkson’s Farm won Reality Docuseries.
Elsewhere, Vicky McClure won Drama Performance for Trigger Point, I Fought The Law was named Best New Drama and Mrs Brown’s Boys took home the Comedy award.
