AS the stars lined up on the red carpet for the annual National Television Awards this year, there was a particularly bright jewel shining in the paparazzi flashlight.

I, like many people I suspect, actually don’t give a hoot about the awards, although I do sometimes ponder – who on earth bothers to vote for them?

I do, however, like to look at the dresses. Starved of any excuse to get so dressed up in my daily life, I “ooh” and “ahhh” with the best of them and squeal with smug delight at the ones who get it wrong.

This year’s red carpet offering didn’t disappoint but there among the fake tan, ruffles, thigh-high slits and Tulisa’s Spanx, was Mary Berry looking incredibly stunning at the age of 77 in a bright sapphire blue gown.

As an avid watcher of the Great British Bake Off, I’m a fan of Mary Berry and this week we were treated to the first part of a documentary about her life on BBC2.

A working mum, Mary has raised three children with her husband of 46 years, Paul, while carving out a career in a male-dominated world.

Such ambition, drive and sheer hard work is admirable on its own, but Mary has also overcome a life-changing disability caused by a teenage bout of polio and the tragic death of her son in a car crash.

Nevertheless, her touch of common sense, the twinkle in her eye and the ability to always find a kind word have made her a firm favourite on the GBBO.

She has also become a bit of a fashion icon – she still wears jeans (and looks good in them) and last summer she single-handedly caused a spike in sales of floral bomber jackets at Zara.

But Mary breaks the rules.

According to the world of television she should have been shipped out and replaced by a younger model several decades ago.

How often have we endured the unlikely and often cringe-worthy onscreen partnership of an ageing male television presenter flanked by his glamorous co-presenter – Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly on Strictly, Terry Wogan and Fearne Cotton on Children in Need, Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole on X Factor.

But a 77-year-old woman and a younger male co-star in the form of the handsome Paul Hollywood, now that’s a refreshing change.

As I watched the carousal of TV stars on the red carpet that night, it struck me that among the reality stars and so-called ‘celebrities’, Mary is surely a woman we can actually hold up as a role model for teenage girls.

What a shame there aren’t more women like her on television.