Jay Blades recalls ‘unbelievable’ experience of meeting the King ahead of NTAs
The presenter was one of multiple famous faces to appear on the red carpet of this year’s National Television Awards.
Jay Blades has described the “really unbelievable” experience of meeting the King in an upcoming special episode of his BBC show The Repair Shop.
The presenter was one of multiple famous faces to appear on the red carpet of this year’s National Television Awards (NTAs), which was held at the OVO Arena Wembley.
Blades was joined by television royalty including Sir Lenny Henry, Kate Garraway, and Love Island stars Laura Whitmore, Davide and Ekin-Su, as well as the ITV show’s recently announced new host, Maya Jama.
Blades was personally nominated in the NTA expert category and also for the daytime show award for The Repair Shop, though ultimately missed out on both.
An upcoming BBC special of the show will see Charles meet Blades and his expert team of craftspeople to explore their shared passion for preserving heritage craft skills.
Speaking on the red carpet, Blades told the PA news agency the experience of meeting the monarch had been “really unbelievable”.
“Working with King Charles, well he was the Prince of Wales then and now King Charles III, I couldn’t believe that someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate, we just got on like a house on fire,” he said.
“As Will said the other day, ‘I thought you and him knew each other from years ago, the way you guys were speaking to each other’.
“You’re going to see the prince then and the King now in a way that you’ve never seen him – he is so relaxed, to the extent where the protocols are kind of out the window. We talk to each other, we’re laughing, we’re just having a great time.”
Eurovision star Sam Ryder performed during the awards ceremony after he helped create a special television moment earlier this year when he came second in the song competition behind Ukraine.
Reflecting on Eurovision 2023 being hosted in Liverpool, he confirmed he would not do the competition again as he feels it is “someone else’s story now”.
“I had the best time I could only possibly explain as the perfect year. Eurovision for me has always been about lifting up something and pouring light into darkness. That’s what we did,” he added.
“It was the perfect result. Ukraine deserved it, their song was amazing and we got to be there in the crowd. It doesn’t matter about where we came because we got to experience that and the power of that human spirit.”
Also among the awards up for grabs on Thursday evening were the Bruce Forsyth entertainment award which saw Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Taskmaster and The Graham Norton Show battle it out.
TV presenter Emma Willis, who got her big break on MTV and later become popular for her hosting roles on Big Brother, The Voice and The Circle, spoke about the upcoming series of Big Brother, which is set to launch on ITV next year – more than four years since it last aired on Channel 5.
Reflecting on the importance of support and a broadcaster’s duty of care for reality show contestants, Willis said: “I think duty of care should be paramount no matter what age we’re in and no matter what show you’re on.
“I feel like always at Big Brother that was absolutely what we always did, so I can’t imagine, and I absolutely hope, they won’t drop the ball and I’m sure they won’t, they know what they’re doing and it’s a great team that’s making it.”
The National Television Awards took place on Thursday at the OVO Arena Wembley in London, with comedian Joel Dommett on hosting duties.
