Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha is latest celebrity to drop out of National Television Awards 2022 due to suspected Covid

Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha has revealed she won’t be able to attend tonight’s National Television Awards after becoming unwell, admitting her suspicions that she could have Covid.

This week, it was revealed that Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly won’t be at the glitzy event after both testing positive for coronavirus, having reigned supreme at the ceremony for the past 20 years.

Now Nadia is the latest celebrity to have to drop out of the star-studded affair, sharing in a video livestreamed on YouTube how awful she’s feeling while recovering at home.

The presenter showed her official invitation to the NTAs to the camera, having been due to represent Loose Women at the event after the ITV programme was nominated in the Daytime TV category alongside The Chase, The Repair Shop and This Morning.

‘There it all is. Guess who won’t be going to the National Television Awards?’ the 57-year-old told her fans, sounding extremely croaky as she disclosed how impacted she’s been by her ‘lurgy’.

Nadia lamented the fact that she had ‘such a lovely dress’ prepared for the glamorous night, having had her pick of three options.

Nadia Sawalha shared her upset over missing the event (Picture: YouTube/The Sawalha-Adderleys)

The Loose Women panel are nominated this year (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

‘My friend Simone was coming over to do my make-up, I’m supposed to be going with my friend Jordan in the car,’ she said.

‘Jane [Moore] and Kaye [Adams] are going. All the girls are going. Party afterwards. Nope.’

The former EastEnders star said her illness has ‘floored’ her, before confessing that she believes the most recent tests for Covid-19 might not be effective for new strains of the virus.

Longtime winners Ant and Dec will be no-shows tonight (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

‘I am convinced that the tests that we have now don’t pick up the new strains of Covid,’ she stated.

‘That’s what I think because it’s very similar in the way Covid was – you start to feel better and then you just get hammered again and just have to go to bed.’

She added that the day prior to her video, she lay in bed ‘staring at the ceiling for three hours’, adding: ‘I never do that!’

Continuing to speak about the NTAs, Nadia backed Alison Hammond to win the TV Presenter accolade, despite Ant and Dec winning year after year in the category.

She remarked that while Ant and Dec are ‘lovely’, she would love to see Alison take home the award, adding that she’s envisioned the presenter arriving on stage ‘screaming’ over the potential victory.

The NTAs air tonight from 8pm on ITV.

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The presenter said the illness has ‘floored’ her.