They may be embroiled in a £7.8m phone in scandal but the viewing public still love Ant and Dec.

Chiswick's comedy duo managed to put their troubles aside to accept a hat trick of gongs during Thursday's National Television Awards.

The awards, which are voted for by the public, saw Saturday Night Takeaway, beat Deal Or No Deal, Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and An Audience With Take That Live to be crowned the most popular entertainment programme. The pair also named most popular entertainment presenter and their reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! won most popular reality programme, beating Big Brother and The Apprentice.

Speaking to the award show via video link from Los Angeles Dec said, "It has been quite a couple of weeks and we'll just like to thank everybody who has taken the time and the trouble to vote for us this year, we really are very, very grateful."

Ant & Dec have found themselves at the centre of a phone in scandal after it was alledged that Saturday Night Takeaway and Gameshow Marathon shows - along with Soapstar Superstar and X Factor - cheated viewers out of £7.8million by ignoring phone votes.

However Ant & Dec have denied all knowledge of the issue stating "We'd no idea of these problems and are disappointed irregularities occurred."

Ofcom has launched an inquiry.

November 2, 2007