I’m hosting the NTAs, but I might have to miss it. ITV have lined up an emergency standby host, says Joel Dommett
WITH a baby on the way, life is about to change for TV favourite Joel Dommett.
But there is one thing the Masked Singer host is not ready to give up — his six-pack.
Joel, 38, shot to fame showing off his rippling abs in the I’m A Celeb jungle shower, so there is no way he plans to succumb to a dad bod.
With model wife Hannah Cooper, 32, just weeks from giving birth, Joel said with a laugh: “I understand that I might have to sacrifice some of my 1,000 abs. I might have to come down to potentially two to three hundred.
“The sleepless nights will be the hard thing — that’s what people say to me — and whether you have an extra hour in bed or whether you go to the gym. I’m like, ‘Noooo — that’s the two things I love’.
“I basically have tried to set it up so that if I have a spare half-hour, I’m going to get it done.
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“I’ve got a gym in my house which I’m very lucky to have, so that’s the way I’m gonna try to achieve it.
“We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, I won’t become a sort of grumpy mess!”
The baby will be the couple’s first and, since announcing their news in May, they have made pregnancy look easy.
A string of gorgeous photos have shown the lovebirds on breaks in Ibiza and the Cotswolds.
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So it is hard to imagine either of them struggling to stay glam.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun, funnyman Joel added: “Would I be a DILF? I would take that. But also it’s cool to have a dad bod.
“People are into that so, you know, maybe it’s time for me to go that way. I don’t know.”
But despite the jokes, it is clear Gloucestershire-born Joel is overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a dad.
‘Famous people naked’
He first hooked up with Hannah after she sent him a direct message on Instagram in 2016, when he did I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! and finished second to Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt.
The couple wed three years later in an intimate ceremony on the Greek island of Mykonos.
Since then their lives have been a whirlwind as his showbiz star has soared, seeing him mix with the likes of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Holly Willoughby.
He now has a stellar cast of celebrity chums to turn to for advice as he enters a new chapter of his life.
Joel said: “I’m really, really excited. I feel very scared but in a really nice way — just very lucky.
“We’ve kept the baby’s sex secret — it’s practically the only thing we have kept secret so it is nice to have something just for us. But we are really excited to welcome a little human into the world.
“I’ve had lovely advice. [Waterloo Road actor and Strictly star] Adam Thomas has said you’ll never be ready but you just sort of deal with it, and it’s the best thing you’ll ever do. Holly Willoughby gave me lovely advice, too — she told me that all you can do is love them.”
Joel may have a situation to sort sooner rather than later, though, as Hannah’s due date is around the time of the National Television Awards on September 5, and he is set to present the annual event for the third year in a row at London’s O2 venue.
But the bosses have a contingency plan should Hannah go into labour.
Joel said: “My wife is very pregnant . . . but there is a seat for Hannah at the O2 and we’ll just hope she is still there at the end of the evening.
“We’ll almost certainly take our hospital bag along, just in case.
“There is a con-tingency. They won’t tell me who the contingency is but the best thing is everybody is there — every presenter going.
“What I would do is just give a section to everyone — you know, just get Stephen Mulhern to do one, Holly Willoughby to do the next bit, get Bradley Walsh on . . .”
It is testament to Joel’s popularity, six years since he burst on to the scene, that the funnyman could call on such household names to help him out.
And as he returns to NTA presenting duties, he is hoping for an easier ride this time around.
His first stint, in 2021, was in front of an empty hall thanks to Covid, and his second, last year, was postponed due to the Queen’s death.
Joel said: “Fingers crossed, this year there won’t be any national disaster — that’s what I’m hoping for.
“What’s wonderful about the NTAs is it’s this amazing show that people really look forward to, and I just sort of help it along really.
“We try our best to have a bit of fun each year and change it a little, but not so it’s unrecognisable.
“What I’m going to try to do more this year is go into the audience, sit with them and have fun. You have so many people there that everyone knows. I try my best to not think about the fact it’s live, that there are 12,000 people there, millions watching at home. I try not to think about the fact Ant & Dec are watching me — just forget all of that.
"What I also try to not do is picture anyone naked. It’d be weird . . . ”
The NTA shortlists are packed with talent, across categories including Best Presenter, Best Drama and Rising Star.
And Joel hopes to see both Dame Deborah James and Paul O’Grady win posthumous awards.
Ex-Sun writer and cancer camp-aigner Deborah is nominated in the Authored Documentary category for her BBC special Bowelbabe: In Her Own Words, while Paul gets a nod in the Factual class for his hit ITV series For The Love Of Dogs.
Joel said: “There is so much tough competition but I don’t think there would be anyone who would not want to see both of them win.
“The TV industry can be a tough industry. So if you can leave a legacy where you have been incredibly successful and are still loved by everyone, then you have definitely done something right.
‘One of the best shows’
“I really love the TV Interview category, too, which has a great roster of Louis Theroux, Piers Morgan, Graham Norton and Chris and Rosie Ramsey. It’s just brilliant as it shows a really lovely mix of the TV fabric.”
Bonkers ITV show The Masked Singer, which Joel has presented for four series, could also land an NTA.
It is up for The Bruce Forsyth Entertainment gong, just a few months after bagging a Bafta.
Elsewhere, Joel has never been busier, having just spent six weeks in the Dominican Republic filming the big BBC reboot of global reality hit Survivor.
He said: “It has been an incredible year for me, a year of babies and Baftas.
“Survivor is the big one. It feels huge. It’s really exciting to be the host of what is considered to be one of the best reality shows in the world.
“I’m starting to see small edits now and it looks incredible.
“You can see a different side of me, too, because it’s usually, like, suits and shiny floor — and then you’ve got ‘Survivor me’, which is T-shirt, sweat, beard — that Tom Hanks Cast Away vibe.”
Joel also joined This Morning’s summer roster to host alongside Holly Willoughby — including doing one show in which news of Paul O’Grady’s death was reported.
He said: “It was so good to work with Holly, who showed me the ropes and took me under her wing.
“As a comic, it is a brilliant show to do because it is two-and-a-half hours of live telly, though on this occasion reacting to the death of a loved celebrity — then the next minute you are talking about pelvic floor exercises.”
For now, Joel is busy writing his script for the NTAs — but he also has one eye on the three weeks’ paternity leave he has squeezed into his packed schedule.
His next job will be filming a fifth season of The Masked Singer, and he said with a laugh: “I’m hoping I’ll be able to take the baby along and show it the absolutely terrifying costumes.”
He added: “I would love to be here in 30 years still fronting hit shows — to be hosting the 40th series of The Masked Singer or the 30th BBC Survivor. I want my kid, or my children, to come along and watch Masked Singer.
“It is such a family show, I want to not only present it but to experience it personally with my own family.
“That’s what I am really excited about — having my kids and family come along for the ride and experiencing it all with me.”
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Perhaps Joel won’t need those abs, after all.
- The National Television Awards will be broadcast live on Tuesday, September 5, from 8pm on ITV1.
