After 22 consecutive winless award nominations...
I was named 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 at VOX, the longest running voiceover awards in the UK.
Now if you've been following me for any length of time,
you'll know that I embraced my winless streak as a perverse form of anti-marketing.
In fact, for myself and fellow winless-multi-nominee Anthony Hewson - it's been a consistent source of black comedy.
(Which is why I started my acceptance speech with a shout out to him).
But that interaction reveals a wider point about the voice acting community as a whole.
It really is overwhelmingly supportive.
I cannot put a number on the number of hugs and messages I've received - from people I've known for years and people I've known for days.
Maybe it's because we work solo most of the time.
Maybe it's because we're all freelancers.
Maybe it's because of the free wine.
But without that support, it would have been impossible to build the career I have so far.
That support has meant such an incredible amount to me, I'm scared of attempting to start naming names in the knowledge I'd inevitably leave people out.
So rather than attempt something clever, I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to the community as a whole for everything.
Second to the sound of my mum shrieking down the phone when I told her I'd finally won, it means the world.
By Chris Tester - British Male Voice Actor