TV presenter Carol Vorderman has hosted the Pride of Britain Awards for almost 20 years.

Below the 56-year-old star tells us why they're so special to her after two decades in an exclusive Q&A ahead of this year's star-studded event.

She speaks about how she believes the event is up there with the biggest on the planet.

And reveals how she felt when she met the man who saved her life.

Q: Last year’s ceremony was especially emotional for you because the winner of the Special Recognition award, Dr David Nott, saved your life back in 2002. What was that like?

CV: Incredibly emotional. I met him the night before the ceremony and he said, "You do know you had sepsis , don’t you?" I was like, no. I honestly didn’t know until the night before Pride of Britain 2016 that that’s what I’d had.

A lot of medics don’t recognise the symptoms – but thankfully he did. He said to me, "By the time I saw you, your organs were starting to close down and you had about four to six hours till death; I don’t think you quite realised just how ill you were."

Q Tell us more about what happened…

CV: I was rushed to A&E in 2002. David [the world’s most experienced conflict surgeons] was there – one of the few people at the time who could recognise sepsis. I knew I was very ill, but David was very reassuring.

Until I met him last year I didn’t realise I’d been so close to death. I wanted to thank him personally and it was lovely to get the opportunity to do that. He’s an incredible man and through his work in war zones across the world, he has saved thousands of lives.

Q: Has Pride of Britain changed you?

CV: Yes, you realise what people go through – it’s not a matter of saying, "Oh, thank goodness that hasn’t happened to me" – it’s more about celebrating all of the things that are good in your life, and I have been doing that for a very long time.

I try to help as many people as I can. A lot of my time now, and I’m semi-retired, is spent doing voluntary work. I do a lot, for example, with Air Cadets, in areas in which I think I can genuinely help.

Q: What makes the Pride of Britain such a special event?

CV: It’s huge every year – it beats the Oscars and the Baftas [in the ratings] and the event is now fixed in people’s heads. It’s a celebration of people who live relatively normal lives doing these extraordinary, kind, brave things.

There are a lot of spin-off events that have come about because of it, but this is the mother of them all.

Q: What do Pride of Britain winners have in common?

CV: None of them are frightened of stepping up to the plate. People have a fear of being different, because they don’t want to be attacked in some way, particularly on social media. Pride of Britain winners have no fear of that.

They’re tall poppies in whatever they do. They’re not frightened of what might happen to them for the good of someone else. They’re also very modest. Out of the hundreds of winners we’ve had over the years, those are the standout traits they share.

Q: What advice would you give to anyone who wants to do something extraordinary?

CV: Nobody who’s ever made a difference has done the same as everyone else. So I say: don’t be afraid of being different.

  • Watch The Pride Of Britain Awards 2017 on TUESDAY 7 NOVEMBER on ITV, 8pm