In a shocking twist, Gary Lineker has broken Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s 23-year winning streak at the National Television Awards as he took home the prize for best presenter.
Lineker, 64, signed off Match of the Day in May 2025 for the final time after over 20 years fronting the BBC highlights show.
The former striker, 64, has hosted MOTD since 1999 and has topped the Beeb’s list of its highest-paid stars on several occasions since, taking home a reported £1.4million salary.
In his acceptance speech, Lineker said: ‘Blimey, I’ve won the Ant and Dec trophy! Alright, what to say, firstly, of course, thank you, thank you to everybody who voted for me, hugely appreciated, it’s amazing.
‘I remember when I first started to present Match of the Day about two centuries ago, and there were two young Geordies just making a name for themselves, and I thought “These boys are going to win the NTA presenter award every single year until Newcastle win a trophy.”‘
Lineker’s exit from the long-running sports programme was amid controversy, after he attracted criticism when he shared an Instagram Story about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
His since-deleted post featured a rat emoji, which has been historically used as an antisemitic trope.
The host later issued an unreserved apology for the ‘hurt and upset caused’ by the video, stating it was a ‘genuine mistake.’
Later in the speech, he seemed to reference the controversy, saying: ‘Its not lost on me why I’ve won this award…I think perhaps it demonstrates that it’s okay to sometimes use our platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice. So thank you, it means the world.’
He then walked off the stage to thunderous applause, with the host Joel Dommett commenting, ‘We’ve just witnessed history!’
Last year, Ant and Dec broke NTA records by continuing their winning streak for a 23rd year.
They picked up the TV presenter award yet again, with Dec saying: ‘Thank you – it’s really hard to put into words just how this feels and what it means to us that you take the time to vote for us.’
But it seems the long streak has finally ended, with Lineker taking home the prize this year.
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