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Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of
Anthony McPartlin 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. McPartlin came to prominence ...
(born 18 November 1975) and
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 a ...
(born 25 September 1975), from
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Formed after their meeting as
child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...
s on
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 ...
's drama ''
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 ...
'', they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, the names of their characters from the series. The duo have since pursued careers as television presenters, and currently host ''
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), an ...
'', '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', ''
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 (colloqui ...
'', and ''
Limitless Win ''Ant & Dec's Limitless Win'' is a British game show hosted by Ant & Dec which premiered 8 January 2022 on ITV. The series was created by Hello Dolly Ltd and is produced by Hello Dolly Ltd and Ant & Dec's Mitre Studios. Gameplay Two contestant ...
''. Previous hosting credits include supporting Luca G on his live tour “The Mohawk” appearing in Stevenston’s Pop Inn and Dregin’s The Brae ''
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 ...
'', '' CD:UK'', '' Friends Like These'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
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'', i ...
'', '' Push the Button'', ''
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 ...
'', and '' Text Santa''. They presented the annual
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
in 2001, 2015 and
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
. In addition to presenting, the pair are actors and both had leading roles in the 2006 film '' Alien Autopsy''. They also have their own production company, Mitre Television. In a 2004 poll for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, Ant & Dec were named the eighteenth most influential people in
British culture British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empire ...
.


Background

McPartlin and Donnelly met while working on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
children's drama ''
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 ...
'' in 1989. After a shaky start, they soon became best friends.BBC Tyne – Ant & Dec
BBC.co.uk (20 May 2008). Retrieved 5 May 2012. They have achieved such popularity as a duo that they are hardly seen apart on screen. It is reported that they are each insured against the other's death, with the amount reportedly being around £1 million.


Career


Acting

Although McPartlin had gained some television experience with a brief stint on the children's television series '' Why Don't You?'', which was broadcast on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, Donnelly was the first of the two to acquire his place on the BBC children's drama ''
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 ...
''. He joined in 1989, playing Duncan. A year later, McPartlin joined the cast to play PJ (series 2, episode 5). Their friendship began when their storylines collided, creating a friendship both on and off-screen. ''Byker Grove'' producer Matthew Robinson told them to "Stay together through any row you have, whatever it is, be together and you could be the future
Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...
. I think they have proved that in many ways." Donnelly also played a stable boy in the film adaptation of the novel '' The Cinder Path'' in his teenage years. They also went on to co-star in the 2006 sci-fi comedy film ''Alien Autopsy''.


Music

After leaving television, the duo turned their hand to pop music. Their first single was a song they performed as part of the group Grove Matrix, performed as part of the storyline in TV show ''Byker Grove'', titled "Tonight I'm Free". The single had some success, and the duo recorded two albums under their character names of PJ & Duncan. Their most famous hit during this period was the
BRIT Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
nominated " Let's Get Ready To Rhumble", for which the video and moves were choreographed by Mark Short, who had previously worked with
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
and
Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...
. For their third album, the duo reinvented themselves under their real names of Ant & Dec. The album featured their signature single, "Shout". During their time as primarily music artists, the pair released sixteen singles and three studio albums; however, none of their releases managed to reach number one, with their highest UK chart position being number three. The duo did, however, reach the top ten in Germany and Japan and even had a number-one single in Germany, with their cover of the
Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
' "
All I Have to Do Is Dream "All I Have to Do Is Dream" is a song made famous by the Everly Brothers, written by Boudleaux Bryant of the husband-and-wife songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and published in 1958. The song is ranked No. 141 on the ''Rolling Stone ...
". Success also struck in other European countries. The duo had a short-lived revival in the music industry, releasing a song for the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
, titled " We're on the Ball". The track peaked at No. 3, being beaten by
Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...
and
Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...
. On 23 March 2013, Ant and Dec performed "Let's Get Ready To Rhumble" as part of their show ''
Ant and 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 ...
,'' which powered the song to number one in the UK iTunes chart and on Sunday 31 March 2013 the track was revealed as the Official UK Number 1 single on The Official Chart on BBC Radio 1. The two donated all money made from the re-release to charity. In February 2022 the pair released the charity single "We Werk Together", written by Ian Masterson, with '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' winners
The Vivienne James Lee Williams (born 12 April 1992), better known by the stage name The Vivienne, is a Welsh drag queen, known for being appointed the first UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ambassador in 2015, winning the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race U ...
, Lawrence Chaney and Krystal Versace with the proceeds from the single going to the Trussell Trust. The song was performed on the first episode of the eighteenth series of ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' as the "End of the Show" Show, introduced by RuPaul.


Presenting


Children's television

Ant & Dec got their first presenting job in 1994 while still releasing music under the alias of PJ & Duncan. They co-presented a Saturday-morning children's show entitled ''
Gimme 5 ''Gimme 5'' was a children's television programme that broadcast on Saturday mornings on ITV from 25 April 1992 to 27 August 1994. The programme was a live two-hour show which included live guests, cartoons, competitions, and games. For serie ...
'', which was broadcast on
CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...
. In 1995, the duo were once again offered a job on
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 ...
, this time presenting their own series, entitled ''The Ant & Dec Show''. The series was broadcast from 1995 to 1996, and in 1996, Ant & Dec won two BAFTA Awards, one for 'Best Children's Show' and one for 'Best Sketch Comedy Show'. In 1997, a VHS release, entitled ''The Ant & Dec Show – Confidential'', was made available in shops, and featured an hour of the best bits from two years of the programme, as well as specially recorded sketches and music videos. In 1997, the duo switched to
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
, presenting an early-evening children's show entitled ''Ant & Dec Unzipped''. This show also won a BAFTA but was dropped after just one series. ITV soon signed the duo in August 1998, and within weeks, were assigned to present
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
's Saturday morning programmes ''
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 ...
'' and '' CD:UK'', alongside
Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter and actress. From 1998 to 2002, she hosted the ITV children's show '' SMTV Live,'' for which she won a BAFTA Children's Award, and its spin-off chart show '' ...
. The duo presented the shows alongside Deeley for three years, becoming the most popular ITV Saturday morning show. The programme's success was the mix of games such as Eat My Goal, Wonkey Donkey and Challenge Ant, sketches such as "Dec Says" and the "Secret of My Success", and the chemistry between Ant, Dec, and Cat. Two SMTV VHS releases, compiling the best bits from both shows, were released in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Ant & Dec also starred in the children's TV series '' Engie Benjy'' during their time on SMTV. Ant & Dec made their permanent departure from children's television in 2001 after trying out formats like '' Friends Like These'' for
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in 2000 and '' Slap Bang with Ant & Dec'' for ITV in 2001 (which was basically SMTV in the evening even playing Challenge Ant against adults). They have since said that they left SMTV because the ''
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 ...
'' live finals were due to begin on Saturday nights on ITV in December 2001.


Primetime

Ant & Dec's first primetime presenting job came in the form of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Saturday-night game show '' Friends Like These'', which was first broadcast in 1999 and made them known as presenters - a shift change from their acting days. The duo presented two series of the programme between 1999 and 2001. In 2001, the duo's contract with ITV was renewed for a further three years, following their appearances on ''SMTV Live'' and ''CD:UK'', and received their first primetime presenting job on the station, presenting brand new Saturday night reality series ''
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 down to this success they had to leave SMTV behind. ''Pop Idol'' was broadcast for only two series before being replaced in 2004 by ''
The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'', to which former Smash Hits editor
Kate Thornton Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including ''Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (20 ...
was assigned presenting duties. In 2005, as part of the ITV's 50th birthday celebrations, they were back on television fronting ''
Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon ''Gameshow Marathon'' is a British game show, broadcast on ITV from 17 September 2005 to 26 May 2007. After a quick retrospective look at the history of the particular show, the show itself is recreated. This involves recreating the original s ...
'', a celebration of some of ITV's most enduring gameshows from the past 50 years. They hosted ''
The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'', ''
Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, '' All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to ...
'', ''
Play Your Cards Right ''Play Your Cards Right'' (or ''Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right'') is a British television game show based on, and played similarly to, the American show ''Card Sharks''. History ''Play Your Cards Right'' broadcast on ITV from 1 Februar ...
'', ''
Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...
'', '' Take Your Pick!'', '' The Golden Shot'' and '' Sale of the Century''. In 2002, Ant & Dec created and presented their own show, entitled ''
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), an ...
''. The first series was not an overall success, but with the introduction of "Ant & Dec Undercover", "What's Next?", "Ant v Dec" and "Little Ant and Dec", the show became a hit. During the fourth series, Dec broke his arm, thumb and suffered a concussion whilst completing a challenge for the 'Ant vs. Dec' segment of the show. The incident involved learning how to ride a motorbike and jump through a fire ring. Dec failed to pull hard enough on the bike's throttle during the challenge, causing it to topple over and sending him flying through the air. The accident caused the pair to miss the ''
Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
'' charity telethon of 2005. In 2006, the first episode of series five saw the duo abseil down the side of the 22-story high London Studios, where the show was filmed. Two DVDs, a best-bits book, and a board game of the series were released during 2004. The show was rested after 2009 as Ant & Dec said they were running out of ideas, and it became stale, as many of the popular features such as "Little Ant & Dec" and "Undercover" were dropped. ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' returned in 2013 and was a massive success; Ant & Dec resurrected previous hit features such as "Undercover", "Little Ant and Dec" (albeit with a new Little Ant and Dec) Win the Ads, and Ant v Dec, with new host
Ashley Roberts Ashley Allyn Roberts (born September 14, 1981) is an American singer, dancer, and media personality. She is a member of the pop/ R&B girl group and dance ensemble The Pussycat Dolls. Roberts released her debut solo studio album, ''Butterfly Ef ...
. They also brought in new features such as the Supercomputer, Vegas or Bust, the End of the show 'show' where Ant and Dec perform with an act such as Riverdance or an Orchestra, and "I'm a Celebrity, get out of my ear!" where they have an earpiece in a celebs ear, and they tell them what to do while being filmed by secret cameras. The series was such a success that ITV recommissioned it for 2014 even before the 2013 series ended. A board game of the format was released. The final episodes of the 2020 series were filmed at home due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, and the 2021 series was filmed with a virtual audience and precautions. In August 2002, Ant & Dec fronted '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. They drew their highest viewing figures to date in February 2004: nearly 15 million tuned in to watch the third series. In May 2006, they were assigned to present coverage of the charity football match ''
Soccer Aid ''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between t ...
''. They were then invited back to present coverage of the second match in September 2008 but have been replaced by
Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...
from 2010 as the match clashed with ''
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 (colloqui ...
''. In June 2006, they announced they had created a new game-show format for ITV, entitled ''
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'', i ...
''. The show featured members of the public gambling high stakes of money to win the ultimate prize. The first series began airing on 10 July 2006 and was aired for seven consecutive nights. The second series was broadcast in early 2007 and saw a move to a prime-time Saturday slot. Ratings for the series fell to below 3.5 million, and the series was subsequently axed in March 2007. In April 2007, the duo signed a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV, reportedly worth £40 million, securing their career at the station until the end of 2009. In June 2007, they were offered the job of presenters on new ITV reality platform ''Britain's Got Talent'' by
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...
. The series features contestants aiming to win £100,000 and spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance while performing and being judged by Cowell, actress
Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...
and former
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
editor
Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...
. The series was highly successful, drawing in nearly 12 million viewers, and led to the pair continuing to operate as hosts for future series, along with continual appearances in a regular feature on the ITV2 spin-off show '' Britain's Got More Talent''. But, similarly to Saturday Night Takeaway, the twelfth series saw Dec present the live shows on his own (despite them both presenting the auditions shows). The pair filmed six episodes for a new American game show, '' Wanna Bet?'', in November 2007. The episodes were broadcast in 2008 but failed to attract enough interest for a second series to be commissioned. ''What You Wrote'', another format created by the duo, was due to air in Autumn 2008 but was reportedly axed by ITV. In 2010, the duo debuted a replacement for ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'', entitled '' Ant & Dec's Push the Button''. The series was a success, albeit not in the same way as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'', and a second run of the programme was broadcast in 2011, but Ant and Dec later dropped the show in favour of reviving ''Saturday Night Takeaway''. Ant & Dec have also presented the game show ''
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 ...
'', a creation of Cowell's, airing live on ITV in 2011 with a second series in 2012, but this was not a ratings success and was cancelled after the second series. On 24 December 2011, they presented ITV's charity initiative '' Text Santa'' with Holly Willoughby. ''Text Santa'' returned in 2012, 2013 and 2014 with Ant & Dec co-hosting alongside
Christine Bleakley Christine Louise Lampard ('' née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–11), while ...
,
Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...
, Holly Willoughby, Alesha Dixon and
Paddy McGuinness Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 14 August 1973) is an English actor, comedian and television presenter. He rose to fame with the help of Peter Kay, who invited him to appear in his programmes ''That Peter Kay Thing'', '' Phoenix Nights'' and ''M ...
. In January 2016, Ant and Dec presented '' When Ant and Dec Met The Prince: 40 Years of The Prince's Trust'', a one-off documentary for ITV. In 2016, they also presented '' The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebration'', broadcast live on ITV. In November 2016 the pair signed a new three-year deal with ITV estimated to be worth £30 million. In November 2019, '' Ant and Dec's DNA Journey'' aired, which followed the pair as they retraced their family roots through DNA samples. In the show, they both found out that they have the same DNA marker, which means Ant and Dec are related as distant cousins. The '' DNA Journey'' format has since been done with other celebrities.


Other activities

In 2006, a celebration of the show ''
Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...
'' saw Ant and Dec having their own puppets made. They have also been made into cartoon characters on the comedy show ''
2DTV ''2DTV'' is a British satirical animated television series which was co-created and produced by Giles Pilbrow for ITV. It premiered on ITV1 on 14 October 2001 and was nominated for the Rose d'Or Award in both 2002 and 2003. The programme was co ...
'', and face masks in '' Avid Merrions '' Bo Selecta''. On 28 September 2008, news outlets reported that the pair were attacked by the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
whilst in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
to present a Pride of Britain Award. In December 2008, the duo starred in their first seasonal advert in seven years, for the supermarket chain
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
. The duo appeared alongside chef
Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reac ...
. In March 2009, the duo filmed a short film for inclusion on
Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...
, which documents a visit to a community centre for young carers in the North East. In September 2009, the duo released their official autobiography, entitled ''Ooh! What a Lovely Pair. Our Story''. In October 2010, the duo appeared in several Nintendo adverts playing both the WiiNintendo Wii & DS – Ant & Dec (Saturday Night Takeaway) Love to Meet Real People
. kathirvel.com. 23 October 2009 and Nintendo DS.Nintendo Wii & DS – Ant & Dec (Saturday Night Takeaway) Brain Train London Cabbies
. kathirvel.com. 22 November 2009 In 2011 and 2014, they both appeared on the ITV2 comedy panel show '' Celebrity Juice''. From February 2013 to March 2015 they appeared in adverts for supermarket
Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...
. Between February 2016 and March 2018, they had appeared in adverts for car company Suzuki. In 2014, Ant & Dec designed a black and white striped
Paddington Bear Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...
statue, one of fifty statues of the bear located around London prior to the release of the film ''
Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
'', which was auctioned to raise funds for the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
(NSPCC). In 2015, the pair made a cameo appearance on the U.S. adaptation of Saturday Night Takeaway,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris ''Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris'' (or ''Best Time Ever'') is an American live television variety series adaptation of the British variety series ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway''. The one-hour show is hosted and executive-produced ...
''. They are also executive producers on the show. In 2020, they celebrated 30 years of working together, releasing a book titled ''Once Upon A Tyne''. It featured stories from their time as a duo and from behind the scenes of their shows.


OBEs

On 10 June 2016, it was announced that the duo would be awarded OBE status by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
at an investiture later that year. The pair said they were both "shocked, but incredibly honoured". McPartlin and Donnelly collected their awards for services to broadcasting and entertainment at Buckingham Palace from Prince Charles on 27 January 2017.


Guinness World Record

On 28 January 2020, the duo were awarded the Guinness World Record for "the most
National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are vot ...
won consecutively for Best Presenter" which was at 18 as of 22 January 2019. The record has since been broken 3 times by Ant and Dec themselves after they won the same award 3 years consecutively as of 13 October 2022, bringing the new record to 21.


Controversies

Law firm Olswang was commissioned to investigate the 2005 British Comedy Awards when the producers overturned the voting public's first choice, ''
The Catherine Tate Show ''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on ...
'' in favour of ''Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' for the People's Choice Award. The incident was also the subject of an investigation by media regulator Ofcom. Following allegations of fraud in 2007, an investigation by auditors
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
discovered that two shows, ''Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon'' and ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'', had defrauded viewers participating in phone-ins. The programmes were subject to a further investigation by Ofcom which found that between January 2003 and October 2006 ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' had: * selected competition finalists before the telephone lines were announced as closed * staggered the selection of competition finalists, which meant that viewers entering the competition did not have a fair and equal chance of winning * selected finalists based on their suitability to be on television and where they lived * selected an individual already known to the production team to be placed on the shortlist of potential winners and who went on to win the competition. Between September and October 2005, ''Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon'' had: * on six occasions in the Prize Mountain competition, selected winners based on their suitability to be on screen * failed to account for almost half of the competition entries The pair were ridiculed for their alleged participation in the fraud on the front cover of the satirical magazine '' Private Eye''. On 30 September 2008, Ant & Dec were sued for $US30 million by
Greek American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest e ...
stand-up comedian and actor
Ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
for using the name 'Ant' in the United States. The lawsuit, among other things, alleged trademark infringement and fraud. The suit was dismissed in May 2010. The pair have had the UK registered trademark for 'Ant & Dec' in the category of 'Entertainment services' since 2003.


Acting

The pair have, albeit infrequently, returned to acting, both on stage and screen. They played themselves in the film ''
Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...
'' (in which
Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with '' The Illuminatus!'' in 1977. There he ...
's character addressed Dec as "Ant or Dec"). They have returned to their Geordie roots in a one-off 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 ...
'' and also by returning to ''Byker Grove'' for Geoff's funeral. In 1998, the pair starred in the
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
'' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' at Sunderland's Empire Theatre alongside Donnelly's partner at the time Clare Buckfield. The show was financially unsuccessful, making £20,000 less than it cost to stage, with the duo footing a large share of the shortfall. Ant & Dec's most recent acting appearance was in the film '' Alien Autopsy'' released in April 2006.Alien Autopsy (2006)
IMDb The film gained positive reviews with critics praising the pair's acting performance but lost more than half of its budget at the box office. In 2013, they reprised their roles as P.J. and Duncan on
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), an ...
.


Awards


National Television Awards

Wins


NTAs by number won


NTAs by show number won

Nominations/Awards that they didn't win


Filmography


Films


Television advertisements


Television idents

* ITV "
Celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
" idents (3 idents, 2002) * ITV " Abstract celebrities" idents (5 idents, 2003)


Apps

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


References


External links

*
Speaker's Corner article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ant and Dec English hip hop groups British children's television presenters English comedy duos English game show hosts English pop music duos Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups from Newcastle upon Tyne Male musical duos Hip hop duos Pop-rap groups Telstar Records artists ITV people Entertainer duos