Stacey Solomon criticised the National Television Awards on Wednesday after both of her programmes were placed in the same category, calling the decision "absolutely ludicrous." The presenter said the double nomination — for Sort Your Life Out and Stacey & Joe — leaves her shows competing against each other in the public-voted ceremony at The O2 in London.
Speaking live on Magic Radio ahead of the ceremony, Solomon told hosts Tom Price and Lucy Horobin she was grateful to be shortlisted but surprised by the category placement. "They’ve put Sort Your Life Out and Stacey & Joe in the same blummin' category for some reason — we’re up against each other which is absolutely ludicrous!" she said. She added that she was pleased her whole family would be able to attend the event together.
Solomon, 35, is also nominated in the Best Presenter category, where she faces established broadcasters including Ant and Dec, Alison Hammond, Claudia Winkleman and Gary Lineker. Asked how her husband Joe Swash would react if Sort Your Life Out won, she laughed that he would "secretly be giving me daggers, but outwardly I’m sure he’ll clap."
The nominations follow a bruising loss for Solomon at the BAFTAs in May, when Sort Your Life Out was beaten by Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder’s Grand Tour. At the time she said she was "gutted" and that her team had deserved the BAFTA, comments that drew some criticism on social media as sour grapes.
Sort Your Life Out is a makeover-format programme that helped raise Solomon's profile as a presenter; Stacey & Joe is a fly-on-the-wall series that follows Solomon and Swash at home in Pickle Cottage with their children. The second series of Stacey & Joe has recently premiered and has been described by producers as a family-led, "Kardashians-style" reality format that captures the couple juggling work and parenting.
The National Television Awards, founded in 1995 to allow the public to vote for their favourite television shows and stars, celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. The ceremony remains one of the few major British television awards decided entirely by public vote. Geordie duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have a long-running record in the Best Presenter category, winning the prize more than 20 times; they are widely seen as favourites to extend that streak.
Solomon said she was "so grateful to just be going" to the ceremony and struck a celebratory note about attending with family, calling the opportunity "amazing no matter what happens." The winners of the National Television Awards will be announced during Wednesday’s ceremony at The O2.