Even now, it’s a nonsense when you think about it.
This Morning presenter Alison Hammond – one of the best-loved faces on mid-morning TV – has become the first black person to be nominated for Best Presenter in the history of the National Television Awards.
It took a moment to sink in because it seemed so ridiculous. With all the TV we’ve watched over so many decades, has there really not been another black man or woman worthy of a gong for hosting a show on the small screen?
Well actually there has. June Sarpong and Margherita Taylor from Channel 4’s daytime teen-aimed show T4.
Trisha Goddard had her own mid-morning talk show on ITV. Dame Floella Benjamin remains children’s TV presenting royalty.
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Dame Moira Stuart was the first African-Caribbean female newsreader to appear on British television in 1981. Sir Trevor McDonald not only presented the ITN News over several decades, he has fronted documentaries and travel shows.
The man presented the Awards from 1996 to 2008, for goodness sake, winning himself the special recognition award in 2003 (the only black winner to get that too!). But where is his presenting gong?
There are too many others to mention, including Ore Oduba, Clive Myrie, Sean Fletcher, Brenda Emmanus, Charlene White, Ade Adepitan and Good Morning Britain’s Andi Peters.
The reality is that the past year has woken the TV industry up to the uncomfortable truth that black talents right under their noses have been shamefully under-appreciated.
Those talents won’t have made waves about it. They’d have been happy simply doing their thing, just as Alison has been until now.
She’s up against a tough field – the runners and riders include serial winners Ant and Dec, in line for their 20th successive award, Holly Willoughby, Piers Morgan and Bradley Walsh.
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Simply by appearing among the nominations, however, Alison is already a winner. The public warms to her. A-listers love her and her talents are recognised on a weekly basis.
If she doesn’t get the award on merit this time around, there’ll be other years as the culture around TV changes.
What she has done now is make the breakthrough that should have come a lot sooner.
