The pair are on a huge National Television award streak – we just can’t get enough of them on our screens
![Ant and Dec, the kings of comfort TV make it 20 in a row | Rebecca Nicholson](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/13bbb8a52d1cc17a896e7ea6415ccec2fffb07a3/0_141_5115_3069/master/5115.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdG8tb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=dfd4327f283b8ad060b6fca18edc1c9a)
It’s the winning streak that everyone has been talking about. For the 20th straight year, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have walked away with the National Television award for best TV presenter(s). “The first year we won an NTA, Tony Blair was the prime minister and Newcastle United qualified for the
Champions League,” said McPartlin in his acceptance speech. These awards are voted for by the public, and public love for the duo is yet to fade. From SMTV Live to Pop Idol, all the way through to Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity..., it is comforting that they are still here, still entertaining us, still in their prime.
Just as gardeners watch for signs that the seasons are changing, I sense a change in the air when television is about to make the shift from “sport etc” to comfort TV. It starts with the distant sound of the University Challenge theme tune and picks up when the small-screen blockbusters announce the dates that they will return. Soon, The Great
British Bake Off will be back (21 September), as will
Strictly Come Dancing (18 September), and eventually, when the balm of it is most needed, I’m a Celebrity… will appear, from Wales for the second year in a row. I am trying not to assume that many of us will be stuck indoors for the bulk of a dank, dark winter, but last year these competitions proved to be as comforting as Ant and Dec, and alleviated just a bit of the gloom.