Alan Carr had an exceptional night at the National Television Awards 2026, scooping the biggest prize of the night, the Special Recognition Award.
The whole thing came as a surprise to Carr, who only realised he was the recipient when his long-term friends, Amanda Holden and Paloma Faith, performed a version of I Know Him So Well.
Radio Times caught up with him just moments after his win, where he said he was “drained” after reacting emotionally to the news.
He said: “It was emotionally draining in the best way possible. People kept saying to me, ‘Are you sure you didn’t know?’ I would never be that arrogant to see Special Recognition and think, ‘That’s me!'”
It’s been a remarkable year for Carr, who went down a storm with viewers of The Celebrity Traitors, which he won after successfully deceiving all the Faithfuls.
Cat Burns, Claudia Winkleman, Alan Carr, Nick Mohammed, David Olusoga & Joe Marler. BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells
Immediately after, many fans of the comedian started reminiscing about when he was more regularly on the TV schedules with his Chatty Man TV show, with many calling for it to return.
Would it return? Should it return? Radio Times had to ask.
“Well, I don’t know,” he admitted. “Can it? I mean, chat shows have sort of changed now. I mean, you’ve got the gods, you’ve got the best, Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross.
“And I think podcasts now, you know? I think you can get some good podcasts that are like chat shows and stuff. I don’t know. Let’s see what happens.
“Never say never. But I’ve got so much on now, I can’t really take anything else on. Not that anyone’s asked me!”
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While it seems Chatty Man won’t be on screens any time soon, Carr does have another exciting show coming up for Disney+, which he revealed will be called I Bought a Castle.
The series (previously titled Castle Man) focuses on Carr’s renovation of Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders. Speaking about the show, he revealed: “You’ll see a very stressed side – don’t buy a castle!”
Find out all the winners of the National Television Awards 2026.
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