REALITY TV STARS FLOCK TO CELEBRATE THE FIRST EVER AWARDS

The X Factor Scoops Four Awards including Best Reality Series
Joe Swash scores a double picking up two Awards
Jade Goody honoured with Ultimate Reality TV Star Accolade
Davina McCall wins Best Host and the Digital Spy Legend Award

The Bloomsbury Ballroom in London played host to the premiere of the Digital Spy Reality TV Awards, honouring the crème de la crème of the reality TV world, as voted for by the users of Digital Spy, the UK's number one entertainment news website. The awards, hosted by glamourous TV personality, Claudia Winkleman, are the first of their kind to recognise and celebrate this successful format of television.

Reality TV is now the nation’s most successful genre consistently attracting record-breaking audiences (12.2 million viewers watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing, with 50% share of all viewers and The X Factor 2008 Final was the most watched entertainment show on any channel for five years peaking at 14 million viewers). These awards acknowledge the indefatigable public devotion, celebrating the personalities who capture the imagination of the public.

After spending two weeks in the Australian jungle and entertaining the public with his witty humour, Joe Swash, the nation’s ‘nicest’ celebrity has been crowned both ‘Favourite Celebrity Contestant’ and ‘Best Winner’. The young and talented dancing sensation who was crowned last year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner, George Sampson, picked up ‘Favourite Reality Contestant’ and American Idol was awarded ‘Best International Reality Series’ having discovered the talents of international popstars such as Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood.

After a successful five years of being one of the nation’s favourite programmes, it was no surprise that the public voted overwhelmingly The X Factor as the UK’s ‘Best Reality Series’. Cheryl Cole was crowned ‘Best Judge’ and the ‘Best Moment’ went to the performance by X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and Beyoncé Knowles. A further award was scooped by The X Factor finalist Laura White whose unforgettable early dismissal earned her ‘Most Memorable Exit’ Award.

As one of the nation’s most loved presenters, Davina McCall was above and beyond the public’s first choice for the ‘Best Host’ award for her role on Big Brother. Davina also took home the biggest award of the evening, the ‘Digital Spy Legend Award’.

The injection of sex appeal to many of these reality TV series is undeniably a strong pull and contributes to the sheer volume of viewers tuning in to watch their favourite contestants. This year, Strictly Come Dancing star, Rachel Stevens has been awarded ‘Sexiest Female’ and Dale Howard from Big Brother has been crowned ‘Sexiest Male’. It’s not just the ‘sexy’ contestants that draw the viewers in and some of reality TV’s best moments come from those we have both loved and hated. Big Brother’s Rex Newmark is one such contestant, who only narrowly beat off Strictly Judge Craig Revel Horwood and I’m a Celebrity… contestant David Van Day, to clinch the UK’s most ‘Love to Hate’ title, in the most closely fought out category.

The first Digital Spy Reality TV Awards could not be complete without honoring it’s most loved reality star Jade Goody. Jade came into the spotlight in 2002 in Big Brother’s third series. Her down to earth attitude and likeability led Jade to become a household name and in turn dominate the tabloid pages. Jade remained loyal to her reality roots, from Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother and her documentary series’ on Living TV. It is with great honor that Jade is awarded the Digital Spy ‘Ultimate Reality TV Star’.




THE WINNERS – DIGITAL SPY REALITY TV AWARDS 2009

Best Reality Series The X Factor
Favourite Reality Contestant George Sampson (Britain’s Got Talent)
Favourite Celebrity Contestant Joe Swash (I’m A Celebrity…. Get Me Out Of
Here!)
Love to Hate Rex Newmark (Big Brother)
Best Winner Joe Swash (I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of
Here!)
Sexiest Male Dale Howard (Big Brother)
Sexiest Female Rachel Stevens (Strictly Come Dancing)
Best Host Davina McCall (Big Brother)
Best Judge Cheryl Cole (The X Factor)
Best Moment Alexandra Burke sings with Beyoncé Knowles
(The X Factor)
Most Memorable Exit Laura White (The X Factor)
Best International Reality Series American Idol
Ultimate Reality TV Star Jade Goody
Digital Spy Legend* Davina McCall

* special award not voted for by the public

For more information please contact:
Hannah Paul @ Outside Organisation
Email:
Tel: 0207 4363633

Note to Editors:
Gossip and news from the big night – including exclusive footage of the awards and party will feature on http://www.digitalspy.co.uk on Tuesday 7 April 2009.

About Digital Spy
DigitalSpy.co.uk, the UK's number one entertainment news website, was launched in 2000 by a small team including partners Neil Wilkes, Editorial Director and James Welsh, Systems Administrator and joined in 2001 by partner and Chairman Alan Jay. Digital Spy was acquired by Hachette Filipacchi UK in April 2008 and has since achieved its highest levels of traffic since launch 10 years ago. The site now delivers in excess of 5 million unique users per month (source Google Analytics October 2008).

The Digital Spy site covers a broad range of news and features across all areas of popular culture, including showbiz, celebrities, movies, music, television, soaps, gaming and technology, while the media section covers the latest in the TV broadcasting industry with a particular focus on digital television and programming. Digital Spy has an extremely active community in its Forum Network which ranks within the top 25 English language forums in the world with over 253,000 registered users generating over 22.7 million posts. (Source: Big-board.com April 2008).