Anthony David McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) is an English television presenter, singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Dec Donnelly as part of the presenting duo

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...

. McPartlin came to prominence, alongside Donnelly, in the children's drama series ''

Byker Grove Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series '' Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is borde ...

'', with both of the boys establishing successful careers as television presenters, in which presented ''

SMTV Live ''SMTV Live'' (an abbreviation of ''Saturday Morning Television Live'', and also stylised as ''SM: LIVE'') was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to o ...

'' (between 1998 and 2001), '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), and b ...

'' (since 2002), and ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' (since 2007). Other notable highlights of McPartlin's career alongside Donnelly include presenting Saturday night takeaway ''

PokerFace ''PokerFace'' (also known as ''Ant & Dec's PokerFace'') is a British game show broadcast on ITV, where one person is guaranteed to win £1 million. The show was created by Ant & Dec, who also host it. As implied by the title, ''PokerFace'', is ...

'', '' Push the Button'', ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'', and ''

Red or Black? ''Red or Black?'' is a British television game show which was broadcast on ITV between 3 September 2011 and 29 September 2012. In each round, contestants choose red or black, with those that choose the incorrect colour being eliminated. During ...

'', being hosts of charity appeal ''

Text Santa ''Text Santa'' was a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK-based charities during the Christmas period. The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise. The telethons have been h ...

'' (between 2011 and 2014), and also performing as pop music duo

PJ & Duncan Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's dr ...

Career

McPartlin's first appearance on television was on the children's workshop programme '' Why Don't You?'', but his big break came when he rose to prominence playing the character of PJ in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

series ''

''. It was during his time on the programme that he first met

Declan Donnelly Declan Joseph Oliver Donnelly (born 25 September 1975) is a British television presenter, television producer, former singer, rapper, comedian and actor from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He is best known for working alongside Ant McPartlin as ...

, who was cast in the part of Duncan. The pair formed a close friendship on the programme, both socially and professionally, with the men performing as their characters until their departure from the programme in 1993. During their tenure, the pair created a number of hit records under the label of " PJ & Duncan AKA", including the song "Tonight I'm Free" that had been performed on ''Byker Grove''. From then onwards, McPartlin and Donnelly worked together on television, creating the presenting duo of

. Initially, the pair continued to work in children's television with the Saturday morning hit ''

'', before they eventually branched out into gameshows – ''

Friends Like These ''Friends Like These'' is a British game show that was broadcast on BBC One first as a pilot on 6 November 1999 and then as a full series from 12 February 2000 until 20 September 2003. It was presented by Ant & Dec from 1999 to 2001 and later b ...

'', ''

'' and '' Push the Button'' – along with talent shows – ''

'', and ''

'' – and entertainment programmes – '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'', and ''

''. The pair continued to maintain work in acting, starring in a tribute to ''

The Likely Lads ''The Likely Lads'' is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only te ...

'', in the form of a remake of an episode from the show's sequel ''

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit '' The Likely Lads''. It was created and written, as was its prede ...

'' entitled "No Hiding Place". In 2006, McPartlin and Donnelly starred together in the film ''

Alien Autopsy The alien autopsy is a 17-minute black-and-white film supposedly depicting a secret medical examination or autopsy of an alien by the United States military.Barton, Steve (September 30, 2010)"Ray Santilli, Gary Shoefield Talk the Real Alien Auto ...

''. In 2007, it was discovered that two shows, ''Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon'' and ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'', which he co-presented with Donnelly, had defrauded viewers participating in phone-ins. The latter was produced by the pair's own production company. In April 2009, Ant & Dec achieved wide international exposure when, as backstage commentators for ''

'', they interviewed contestant

Susan Boyle Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of ''Britain's Got Talent'', singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from '. Boyle's debut studio album, ''I D ...

, whose audition would become the most-viewed YouTube video of the year and whose record album topped sales charts in dozens of countries.

Personal life

On 22 July 2006, McPartlin married his longtime girlfriend,

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

Lisa Armstrong at

Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern H ...

, a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

hotel in Buckinghamshire. The couple were married for 11 years before eventually announcing on 15 January 2018 that they were divorcing. McPartlin was a fervent Labour Party supporter until the 2010 election, when he voted for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In February 2013, he told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper that he would struggle to justify voting for either political party in the future. In 2015, McPartlin went into hospital for an operation to treat his knee and was advised to take prescription drugs to combat pain after the surgery was botched. Over the course of the following two years, he slowly became addicted to taking the drugs (one of which being the

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

OxyContin Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

) along with alcohol, including use before television appearances. In June 2017, he sought treatment for his addiction and checked himself in for

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

; he was released two months later. On 18 March 2018 McPartlin was involved in a road traffic collision in London, after which he was arrested on suspicion of

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

. The following day, on 19 March, he met with Dec and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

and suspended further presenting duties to return to rehab for further treatment. On 16 April 2018, he was interviewed under caution and subsequently charged with drink-driving. McPartlin pleaded guilty to the offence at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court the following month, and was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £86,000, Britain's highest-ever penalty for drink-driving. He had previously been banned from driving for 30 days and fined £350 for driving at on the

A1(M) motorway A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate controlled-access highway, motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, a major north–south road which connects Greate ...

. In August 2018 McPartlin announced he would be taking a break from television presenting duties until 2019, saying: "My recovery is going very well and for that to continue having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off." In January 2019, McPartlin returned to his television duties alongside Donnelly at the ''Britain's Got Talent'' auditions. On 7 August 2021, McPartlin married Anne-Marie Corbett, who was formerly his personal assistant, at St Michael's Church in

Heckfield Heckfield is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies between Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Hook, Hart, Hook. It is the location of Highfield Park, Heckfield, Highfield Park, where Neville Chamberlain died in 1940, and it is adjacent to Strat ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. They had been in a relationship since 2018.

Charity

McPartlin and Donnelly are patrons of the charity Sunshine Fund. When their single "

Let's Get Ready to Rhumble "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" is a 1994 song by PJ & Duncan AKA, the performing name used by British duo Ant & Dec at the time. The song was released in the United Kingdom on 11 July 1994 as the third single from their debut studio album ''Psyche ...

" reached No.1, Ant & Dec donated the single's success to the charity ChildLine. They also support the

appeal. They opened the W4 Youth Centre in 2013.

Earnings

In 2007, McPartlin, with his on-screen presenting partner, Donnelly, signed a £30 million two-and-a-half-year contract with ITV.

Honours and awards

McPartlin was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2016 Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for his services to broadcasting and entertainment. The following listed below are the television awards that McPartlin has been nominated for or awarded with, primarily while working alongside Declan Donnelly as Ant & Dec: 1994 *Brit Award Nomination – Best Song: "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" 1995 *Brit Award Nomination – British Breakthrough *Royal Television Society Awards- The Ant and Dec Show 1996 *

British Academy Children's Awards The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Aca ...

: Children's Entertainment Show (The Ant and Dec Show) 1997 *Nominated –

: Children's Entertainment Show (The Ant and Dec Show) 1998 *

: Children's Entertainment Show (Ant and Dec Unzipped) 2000 *

: Children's Entertainment Show (''

'') *

TV Choice Awards ''TV Choice'' is a British weekly TV listings magazine published by H. Bauer Publishing, the UK subsidiary of family-run German company Bauer Media Group.SMTV Live ''SMTV Live'' (an abbreviation of ''Saturday Morning Television Live'', and also stylised as ''SM: LIVE'') was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to o ...

'') *

Royal Television Society Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

: Best Children's Entertainment Programme (''

'') *TV Hits Awards: Best Teen Show ('' CD:UK'') *Loaded Carling Good Work Fellas Awards: Best Double Act *British Comedy Awards: The People's Choice (''

'') 2001 *

'') *Broadcast Awards: Best Children's Programme (''

'') *

: Best Television Presenters *Disney Channel Awards: Kids Awards (The Ant and Dec Show) *Nominated –

: Best Children's Entertainment Show (''

'') 2002 *Nominated –

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

: Entertainment Performance (''

'') *

: Children's Entertainment Show (''

'') 2005 *Nominated –

: Entertainment Performance ('' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') 2006 *British Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Entertainment Personality *British Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Entertainment ProgrammeTelevision – News – British Comedy Awards 2006: The Winners
Digital Spy (13 December 2006). Retrieved 5 May 2012. 2007 *Nominated –

: Entertainment Performance (''

'') 2008 *

TV Quick ''TV Quick'' was a British weekly television listing magazine published by H Bauer Publishing, the UK subsidiary of family-run German company Bauer Media Group. It featured weekly television listings running from Saturday to Friday, and began pub ...

& TV Choice Awards: Best Entertainment Show (''Saturday Night Takeaway'') * Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2008: Favourite Funny Person, Best TV presenters and Best Family TV show (''Britain's Got Talent'') 2009 *TV Quick & TV Choice Awards: Best Entertainment Show (''

'') *TV Quick & TV Choice Awards:Outstanding Contribution AwardAnt and Dec's Award Surprise
Sky UK. 8 August 2009 *Nominated –

: Entertainment Performance ('' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') 2010 *

: Entertainment Performance ('' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') *

: Entertainment Programme (''

'') 2012 *

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...

: Best TV Presenter(s) 2013 *

TRIC Awards The Television and Radio Industries Club (widely known as TRIC) is a British institution chartered in 1931 to "promote goodwill in the television and radio industries". The Club holds an annual awards ceremony each March honouring achievement in te ...

: TV Personality of the Year *TRIC Awards: TRIC Special Award (''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') *

RTS Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

: Entertainment Performance (''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') *Nominated –

: Entertainment Performance (''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'') 2014 *

: Entertainment Performance (''

'') *

: Entertainment Programme (''

'') 2015 *

: Entertainment Performance (''

'') *

: Entertainment Programme (''

' 2017 *British Academy Television Awards: Entertainment Programme (Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway) *British Academy Television Awards: Live Event ('' The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration'') 2018 *British Academy Television Awards: Entertainment Programme (''

'') 2019 *

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

: Most NTA wins for Best Presenter won consecutively *British Academy Television Awards: Entertainment Programme (''

'')

National Television Awards

Filmography

Television

Film

Television advertisements

Apps

*An official '' Saturday Night Takeaway'' app known as ''Studio Rush'' launched on 30 January 2013.

References

Notes

* * *

External links

Official Ant & Dec Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McPartlin, Ant 1975 births Living people Ant & Dec Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners English male child actors English male television actors English people of Irish descent English television presenters Officers of the Order of the British Empire Male actors from Newcastle upon Tyne Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne