The judging lineup for Mirror’s Pride of Britain awards include a host of celebs

This glittering line-up of stars are used to being the centre of attention. But as some of TV’s most famous faces gathered together in a London hotel they knew that ordinary, unknown Brits would be outshining and upstaging them.

Sir Trevor McDonald and Susanna Reid were among the celebrities tasked with choosing the winners of the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards in partnership with TSB.

They were joined by Carol Vorderman, the show’s host who has helped judge the awards since they started in 1999.

Other judges included Christine Lampard, Ben Shephard, The Saturdays’ Rochelle Humes, GMTV doctor Raj Singh and Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.

And even before they had began the daunting task of deciding which deserving hero would take home the prestigious award, the judges had all agreed on one thing – that this year is the most difficult of them all.

GMTV’s Ben Shepherd, who has been a judge for nine years, said: “Most years there is one or two contenders who jump out at you as a worthy winner, but this time everyone seems just as amazing as the others.

“This is definitely the toughest year. There’s going to be intense debate and I really don’t know how we are going to do it.”

Carol Vorderman agreed: “Every one of the finalists deserves to win. In the past I would arrive here already knowing most of my winners, but this time the entire shortlist is standout. All the stories are amazing and really strong.”

X-Factor host Dermot O’Leary, joining the panel for the first time this year, admitted he was “not looking forward to it”.

He said: “I started looking through the judging pack and the first person I saw I thought should win. But then I read the next and I thought she should win too.

"It’s far more difficult that I imagined. I’ve gone through the entire pack and scribbled notes on half of them."

He added: “To be honest it made me feel inadequate.

“You’ve got the people who have just decided to change the world. And you’ve got those who have dealt with extraordinary circumstances in incredible ways.

"It makes all of us wonder what we would have done in their place.”

It took two hours of heartfelt debate before the panel agreed on the winners, from a shortlist whittled down from tens of thousands of nominations of heroism and sacrifice.

The panel, which met at Grosvenor House hotel in Central London, was chaired by Sunday Mirror editor and Pride of Britain founder Peter Willis.

Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of Pride of Britain sponsors TSB was also on the panel.

And the discussions were at times passionate and heated as the judges debated which finalist should take the gong for each of the eight categories.

“If it were me I would have run the other way,” remarked Sir Trevor MacDonald as the panel discussed one of the entries for the award for Outstanding Bravery.

“She had such presence of mind at such a young age,” said Susanna about a contender for Child/Teenager of Courage. “I just think she’s extraordinary.”

And Eamonn Holmes, commenting on one of the finalists for Emergency Service Award, said: “That one really stood out to me, I think it’s bloody impressive. I keep asking myself, ‘if I were there, would I, could I, have got involved?’”

Sir Trevor McDonald later said reading the real-life stories of heroism had “reaffirmed my faith in humanity”.

He said: “We sometimes forget that there are many good and extraordinary people in the world. It has been really nice to stop and see something different to what we are used to, and hear about so many lovely, decent people who have shown such spontaneous courage and bravery.”

Eamonn Holmes agreed. “At a time when the country is so divided over Brexit and people are cynical about the intentions of politicians, it’s absolutely uplifting to hear about such selfless people, some of whom have risked their lives to save others.

“They’re the real stars and the backbone of our country.”

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