Nigel Farage was brutally booed at the TRIC Awards as audience members hurled abuse his way as he accepted his award for News Presenter of the Year at the annual award ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House.
The broadcaster and former politician - who was Leader of the UK Independence Party - was heckled and booed as he took to the stage to accept his coveted award but the TV star appeared to find humour in the awkward situation.
The GB News presenter, 59, laughed off the abuse as he quipped on stage: "The approval of your audience is the ultimate accolade,” said Nigel.
“GB News set out to be the People’s Channel and I’m incredibly proud of that. The establishment media doesn’t always like it – we’re not for them – but this award shows that the people do.”
The GB News presenter went on to add: “In politics, the art of constructive debate is being lost, but it matters.
"To me, good current affairs presenting is about bringing together people with very different opinions, and then having a warm, grown-up conversation with them.”
For the first time this year, winners in 17 categories were chosen entirely by the public this year, meaning that Nigel was hugely popular with GB News viewers.
Past awards have been voted on a 60:40 split between the industry and audiences, however, on this occasion, the TRIC Awards were intensely contested than ever this year with more than 130,000 people voting, compared to 66,000 last year.
In total, more than 1.3m votes were cast.
“It took patience and persistence to vote, so I really thank everyone for that,” Nigel added in his acceptance speech.
Stephen Dixon, who presents GB News Weekend Breakfast, said the programme’s win was an unexpected delight.
“Going up against established media programmes and winning is just remarkable for a show that’s still only 18 months old,” he said. “It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come and how much our audience loves what we do.”
Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump, who Nigel has previously interviewed twice on GB News, shared his congratulations with the TV star.
"He truly is incredible with what he does and says. Everybody listens—the respect is long and deep," Trump gushed.
