Cancer survivor Amy Dowden has reacted to Molly-Mae Hague beating her and the late motor neurone disease sufferer Rob Burrow in their documentary category at the NTAs on Wednesday night – as the star’s win is overshadowed by fan backlash.
Influencer Molly-Mae, 26, – who has recently been criticised for saying she ‘hadn’t done anything fun this summer’ despite multiple trips away – was nominated in the Authored Documentary category for her tell-all miniseries Molly-Mae: Behind It All.
The six-part series, released on Prime Video in January, follows the Love Island star in personal crisis amid her split from professional boxer Tommy Fury due to his problems with alcohol.
She was up against tough competition in the category, including from documentary There’s Only One Rob Burrow – who she praised in her speech -, Flintoff, and Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me.
Although many expected Rob’s family to take home the award, it was Molly-Mae who ultimately scooped the prize. However in her acceptance speech gave a kind nod to Rob and his family.
Rob was diagnosed with MND and sadly lost his battle with the condition last year aged just 41.
Cancer survivor Amy Dowden has reacted to Molly-Mae Hague beating her and the late motor neurone disease sufferer Rob Burrow in their documentary category at the NTAs on Wednesday night
Influencer Molly-Mae, 26, was nominated in the Authored Documentary category for her tell-all miniseries Molly-Mae: Behind It All and ended up winning
National Television Awards 2025 Winners: AT A GLANCE
Reality Competition – I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
New Drama – Adolescence
Quiz Show – The 1% Club
Factual Entertainment – Clarkson’s Farm
The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award – Michael McIntyre’s Big Show
Serial Drama Performance – Steve McFadden, Phil Mitchell, EastEnders
Returning Drama – Call the Midwife
Gary Lineker won the Best Presenter gong, breaking Ant and Dec’s 23 year streak
This Morning won the Best Daytime Award
TV Presenter – Gary Lineker
Serial Drama – EastEnders
Authored Documentary – Molly-Mae: Behind It All
Drama Performance – Owen Cooper, Jamie Miller, Adolescence
Daytime – This Morning
Talent – Strictly Come Dancing
Comedy – Gavin & Stacey
Reacting to Molly-Mae’s unexpected win Amy emotionally penned on social media: ‘Huge congratulations to Molly Mae on your NTA win! It’s been an honour to be nominated alongside such powerful and inspiring documentaries.
‘I’m incredibly proud to have been nominated for my documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me. When I made the deeply personal decision to share my breast cancer journey, it was to raise awareness, promote early detection, and give hope and strength to others going through it. An NTA nomination was just the icing on the cake.
‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who voted and supported the documentary. Your messages, love, and encouragement mean the world to me.
‘I promise to keep using my voice to raise awareness, support others, and shine a light on the reality of breast cancer.’
Molly-Mae, who joked that she had lost a shoe as she walked up to the stage, told the audience: ‘Just to be nominated for this award was such an honour.
She said: ‘I think as you guys saw, we were up against some seriously inspirational people in this category.’
Giving a sweet nod to Rob and his family she said: ‘To Lindsay, Rob Burrow’s wife and his children, his story was far more inspirational than mine could ever be.
‘It was just incredible and touched me in more ways than I can explain. This one’s for you Rob, and to the other inspirational people in this category.’
She was up against tough competition in the category, including from documentary There’s Only One Rob Burrow (seen) – who she praised in her speech -, Flintoff, and Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me
Reacting to Molly-Mae’s unexpected win Amy emotionally penned on social media: ‘Huge congratulations to Molly Mae on your NTA win!’
Amy also posted this snap on her Story of her family who had been to the event
Molly-Mae, who joked that she had lost a shoe as she walked up to the stage, told the audience: ‘Just to be nominated for this award was such an honour’
She said: ‘I think as you guys saw, we were up against some seriously inspirational people in this category’
Viewers who tuned into the NTAs were left furious over her win as they took to X to vent their opinions.
They said: ‘Please explain how Molly Mae won that award when the others was much more inspirational. She should not of been in the same category! #NTAs’,
‘Disgusting that Molly Mae won an award beating Rob Burrows. You cannot even compare them. What the hell is wrong with people voting in this way’,
‘This country voted for Molly Mae over the Burrow family’,
‘That was an epic fail Molly Mae winning the award for best documentary Rob Borrow should of won’,
‘How on earth did Molly Mae win that award’,
‘Who chose the winner of that category? Molly Mae – Seriously???’
Gary Lineker, This Morning and EastEnders were among the big winners on Wednesday night, as the stars of British TV descended on London’s O2 Arena for the 2025 National TV Awards.
Hosted by Joel Dommett for its 30th anniversary, the awards were televised on ITV1, with the winners voted for by the public.
Viewers who tuned into the NTAs were left furious over her win as they took to X to vent their opinions
Molly-Mae-s six-part series, released on Prime Video in January, follows the Love Island star as she launches her fashion brand following her split from professional boxer Tommy Fury
And one of the biggest surprises of the night saw Gary finally bring an end to Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly’s 23-year winning streak, as the former footballer, 64, scored the win for Best Presenter.
The emotional presenter used his acceptance speech to take a pointed dig at his controversial departure from Match of the Day, as he declared it was ‘OK to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice’.
After 26 years, Gary presented his final show in May, after sharing a pro-Palestine Instagram video about Zionism featuring an emoji of a rat, which has anti-Semitic connotations. He apologised, but stepped down as host.
Speaking to the NTAs crowd, he admitted ‘it’s not lost on me why I might have won this award’, before ending his speech: ‘I think it demonstrates that perhaps it’s OK sometimes to use our platform to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice.’
While it was also a redemption evening for This Morning, who scooped the Best Daytime gong again two years after their bruising defeat to The Repair Shop.
It also marked the first win for new hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley, with Alison Hammond telling the audience how they had all been ‘humbled’ by the past two losses.
And Strictly Come Dancing also came out champions, bagging Best Talent Show, despite a year full of scandals and controversies.
However, due to recording schedules for this year’s series, Tess Daly, Claudia Winkleman and the judges were unable to be there to collect the award.
And after it returned for its long-awaited finale at Christmas, beloved sitcom Gavin & Stacey won the award for Best Comedy, with Ruth Jones and Larry Lamb accepting the gong.
Jeremy Clarkson’s smash-hit show Clarkson’s Farm also came out on top, with Jeremy taking the moment to make a quip to the audience about how he was on weight-loss jab Mounjaro.
Seen posing with her award
Molly-Mae and her team posed with her on the red carpet
She thanked her partner Tommy and daughter Bambi in her speech
Rob and his wife Lindsay pictured last May
However, Stacey Solomon suffered a further blow following on from her BAFTA snub earlier this year, as her factual series Sort Your Life Out missed out on an NTA gong again, while she also lost out on Best Presenter.
Meanwhile Liz Hurley and Rob Rinder announced this year’s winner of the Reality Competition was I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, with reigning King of the Jungle Danny Jones leading the 2024 cast onstage to accept.
And Netflix’s Adolescence also proved a hit on the evening, with the acclaimed series beating out Disney+’s Rivals for Best New Drama, and teenage star Owen Cooper winning Best Drama Performance for playing twisted killer Jamie Miller.
An emotional moment of the night saw EastEnders’ Jessie Wallace and Michelle Ryan present the Serial Drama Performance to co-star Steve McFadden, who couldn’t hold back his tears as he was honoured for his portrayal of Phil Mitchell’s mental health crisis.
And the Walford cast had plenty to celebrate, as the ceremony ended with EastEnders scoring the coveted Best Serial Drama prize.
The night kicked off with comedian Michael McIntyre scoring a huge win for his Big Show, as he scooped The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award.
Lee Mack’s The 1% Club was voted Best Quiz Show this year, with the comedian using his time on stage to poke fun at Gary.
Meanwhile, the final ever series of Vera lost out to the BBC’s Call The Midwife for Best Returning Drama.
And it was a big night for former Love Island star Molly as she walked away with the award for Authored Documentary.
Her series, which initially charted her breakup last year from Tommy Fury, beat off stiff competition from Boyzone: No Matter What, Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, There’s Only One Rob Burrow and Freddie Flintoff.
Animated BBC series Wallace and Gromit also received a special recognition award during the night, with creator Nick Park collecting the gong.
The red carpet arrivals were hosted by Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks for the second year in a row, who also took to the stage to hand out a gong.
The NTAs were established back in 1995 to give the public a voice when it came to recognising TV talent – as previously, awards had always been dished out by industry professionals.
Described as a ‘celebration of the nation’s most loved stars and shows’, people have had the opportunity to vote via post, telephone, and online.
