A TV awards website crashed moments after Nigel Farage told viewers he’d been nominated for a top gong.
The Brexit champion has been nominated for News Presenter of the Year at the renowned TRIC Awards, which recognise the ‘great and the good’ of the business.
However, just moments after Farage tweeted that he’d been nominated and invited followers to vote in order to challenge the ‘self-congratulatory’ establishment, the site crashed as a large number of his supporters attempted to endorse him.
Viewers and fans of the former Brexit Party leader were incensed that they couldn’t vote.
Bradley from Manchester Tweeted: “Just tried. Filled it all out. Then it wouldn’t submit the form.”
Another angry user posted: “This is deliberately designed not to work if you select Nigel!”
While John Conning added: “I had to try three times to make it work.”
Others stated that even when the website was restored, the Captcha form did not function, making voting impossible.
Farage himself responded: “So many people are trying to vote that the TRIC Awards website has crashed.
“Do keep trying the link, or come back to vote later!”
The website failure generated fears that not everyone who want to vote for the 59-year-old will be able to do so.
Meanwhile, a source close to Farage expressed optimism that this was not “another stolen election.”
In a video he shared on Twitter, Farage said: “Thank you to all of you that have been to the website [to vote]. As you know, I’m on that list to be the best television news presenter of the year – and just after the email went out, guess what happened, it crashed.
“Now, does it mean the whole thing is rigged? It’s fixed? It’s against us? Not necessarily. Maybe they just couldn’t cope with the volume.
“So, it’s not my fault. Be patient. Keep trying. “And I’ll tell you what, if we win… gosh, that would be fun.”
On Tuesday, June 27, the TRIC awards will be held at Grosvenor House on Park Lane. TRIC President Rob Rinder will host the event in front of a live audience of over 1,000 people.
Last year’s winners included newsreader and presenter Clive Myrie, Ant and Dec, and the late Paul O’Grady.