Presenters Ant and Dec have taken to social media to break their silence on their historic National Television Awards defeat on Wednesday evening.
Posting a clip to their Instagram page on Thursday from South Africa, where they are currently preparing for the second series of I'm A Celebrity All Stars, the comedy duo congratulated Gary Lineker, who scooped the award for Best Presenter.
Ant and Dec have bagged the award every year since 2001, with this year's loss breaking their impressive record as former football pundit Mr Lineker took to the stage with an impassioned speech.
Addressing social media viewers, Mr McPartlin stood next to his co-star Mr Donnelly and said: "Hi everyone!"
Ant and Dec congratulated Gary Lineker on his NTAs win
|"Good morning, from sunny South Africa!" Mr Donnelly added, continuing: "We just wanted to jump on here and say a huge thank you to everybody who voted for I'm A Celebrity last night."
"Yes, thank you very much," Mr McPartlin added. "Everyone here is very, very happy - so thank you to everyone who voted for us in the Best Presenter category even though we couldn't get it across the line this year."
"We were beaten by a new guy, 64-year-old whippersnapper, Gary Lineker," Mr Donnelly joked before offering a genuine response, adding: "Well done, congratulations, Gary."
"Yeah, well done, mate," Mr McPartlin agreed as his co-star noted: "Very well-deserved. Great speech too."
Ant and Dec addressed their historic defeat
|"A lovely speech, thoroughly deserved, well done pal," Mr McPartlin commented.
In a second post on their Instagram Story, they shared a snap of the three of them dressed in costume, with Mr Lineker in the middle sporting a penguin outfit.
They penned cheekily: "Congrats @garylineker or should we say our old nemesis, The Penguin."
The former Match of the Day presenter's win was all the more significant because Mr Lineker was axed by the BBC this year after a long career with the broadcaster.
Ant and Dec with their NTA in 2002
|GETTY
The sacking came after several warnings from the corporation regarding his social media posts, which broke political impartiality rules.
The former footballer had served as host of Match of the Day for 26 years until the conclusion of the Premier League season in May.
Speaking in July, Mr Lineker confirmed he had, in fact, been sacked from the broadcaster. His removal came after sparked outrage when he shared a pro-Gaza post that appeared to represent supporters of Israel as rats, which he later apologised for.
The post, featuring the illustration of a rat, was published back in May, with rats historically being used as an antisemitic slur.
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Gary Lineker gave a pointed speech as he collected his award
| ITVJust days after posting the story, he announced he would be leaving the BBC. It was initially believed that he had quit the show; however, he has now revealed he was fired by BBC bosses.
When he was asked if he had quit or been fired, he admitted: "The latter."
Collecting his accolade on Wednesday, he touched on the controversy as he stated: "It's not lost on me why I might have won this award, aside from presenting Match of the Day, the most iconic football show on television for 26 years.
"And there's so many amazing people that I've worked with both in front of the camera and behind the camera over that period of time.
"So a massive thank you to each and every one of them, because I wouldn't be here now, receiving this award, if it wasn't for them.
"And also I think it demonstrates that perhaps it's OK sometimes for us to use our platform - to use our platform to speak up for those who have no voice."
Mr Lineker concluded: "So thank you, it means the world - thank you very much."