The National Television Awards ceremony will air live tonight in Britain, and while lots of our favorite shows and presenters have been nominated, there is a suspicious trend of absences.
The nominees for the talent show-related award categories include:
Talent Show
Britain’s Got Talent
Dancing on Ice
Strictly Come Dancing
The Voice UK
The X Factor
TV Judge
David Williams
Louis Tomlinson
Robbie Williams
Robert Rinder
Simon Cowell
TV Presenter
Ant & Dec
Bradley Walsh
Graham Norton
Holly Willoughby
Phillip Schofield
We’re thrilled with the Talent Show category nominees; it’s great to see that The Voice UK, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent all made the cut. But when it comes to the judge and presenter sections, there are some obvious snubs. Where’s Amanda Holden? Alesha Dixon? Emma Willis? Ayda Fields?
Yes, unfortunately NO female presenters or judges from talent shows have been nominated this year. And very few have been nominated in general. (This Morning‘s Holly Willoughby is the only woman nominated in either category.)
Why is this the case? We’re not entirely sure, but it does seem like the men on talent shows – especially when it comes to the judging panel – are generally taken more seriously on these shows than the women, who are often labeled as “dumb” and “over-the-top” for making jokes that don’t always land and having opinions not shared by everyone. (Though it’s notable that when, say, Simon Cowell has a critique for a performer he’s generally taken seriously, even if a lot of viewers disagree with him.)
Regardless of the reason for their absence on this particular list, we hope to see our favorite talent show ladies nominated for other awards in the near future. Until then, we’ll root on our favorites who were nominated, and cross our fingers that the NTA’s will see the light on more of their awesomeness next year!
