Ant and Dec lose twice at Royal Television Society Awards as both miss ceremony

Ant and Dec have missed out at the Royal Television Society Awards just two days after beleaguered star Ant McPartlin was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

The duo, who were up for two major awards, both skipped the prestigious ceremony in London on Tuesday night.

McPartlin has checked himself back into rehab following a car crash in Richmond on Sunday, while Declan Donnelly opted to steer clear from the event.

The geordie duo were nominated for best entertainment for Saturday Night Takeaway but were beaten by Love Island.

They were also nominated for best entertainment performance for I’m A Celebrity but lost to Josh Widdecombe, Adam Hills and Alex Brooker for The Last Leg.

The BBC scooped 17 awards as it was named RTS channel of the year at the ceremony at the Grovesnor House Hotel in central London.

The winners

Actor (Female) Sinéad Keenan – Little Boy Blue,

Actor (Male) Stephen Graham – Little Boy Blue

Arts Paula Rego: Secrets and Stories

Breakthrough Award Daniel Lawrence Taylor – Timewasters

Children’s Programme Inside My Head: A Newsround Special

Comedy Performance Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper – This Country

Daytime Programme Moving On – Eighteen

Documentary Series Hospital

Drama Series The End of The F***ing World

Entertainment Love Island

Entertainment Performance Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe – The Last Leg

Formatted Popular Factual Muslims like Us

History Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents

Live Event World War One Remembered: Passchendaele – For The Fallen

Mini-Series Three Girls

Presenter Anita Rani – My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947

RTS Channel Of The Year BBC One

Science & Natural History Planet Earth II

Scripted Comedy This Country

Single Documentary Rio Ferdinand Being Mum and Dad

Single Drama Murdered for Being Different

Soap and Continuing Drama Coronation Street

The big winner was BBC Three's This Country with siblings Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper taking home three awards including the comedy writer prize.

They also won in the comedy performance category while the show picked up the scripted comedy prize.

Planet Earth II, presented by Sir David Attenborough won the science and natural history award while co-stars Sinead Kennan and Stephen Graham won the best actor (female) and best actor (male) prizes respectively.

Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones were recognised with the judges award for the Netflix series while the streaming giant's The Crown was awarded a special recognition prize.

Cracker creator Jimmy McGovern was recognised for his body of work with the lifetime achievement award.

McPartlin, 42, was involved in a collision with two other cars while he was driving his Mini in Richmond, west London, and was arrested at around 4pm on Sunday after failing a roadside breathalyser test.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said he was "taken to a south London police station for questioning and has since been released under investigation" and that inquiries continue.

Police previously confirmed that a number of individuals were treated at the scene for minor injuries, and a child passenger from one of the cars was taken to hospital to be checked as a precaution.

On Monday, it was confirmed that McPartlin is stepping down from his TV commitments and will head back to rehab. He was first treated last year after struggling with an addiction to painkillers following a knee operation in 2015.

McPartlin's publicist said in a statement: "Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments.

"He has spoken with Dec and ITV today and asked for time off for the foreseeable future. As such, Saturday Night Takeaway will not be going ahead this Saturday."

In a statement, Japanese carmaker Suzuki - which sponsors Saturday Night Takeaway - said: "ITV has taken a joint decision with Ant and Dec's team not to broadcast Saturday Night Takeaway this weekend.

"We will be reviewing options for the last two episodes of the series (March 31 and April 7) which would not feature Ant, who is taking time off to seek treatment. We very much hope that he gets the help that he needs.

"Suzuki will remain in dialogue with ITV and advise media when appropriate regarding the last two episodes of the series. Please note that no further comment is available from Suzuki at this time."