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Ant and Dec - Biography

The presenting duo are best-known for hosting Britain's Got Talent

TV presenters Ant and Dec smiling
Phoebe Tatham
Content Writer
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Their Early Careers

Between them, the inimitable Ant and Dec have become the kings of the small screen. The Newcastle-born lads began their careers on popular teen soap Byker Grove. After establishing a charismatic TV presence, the gregarious Geordies went on to pursue a music career as PJ & Duncan, using the trademark names of the teen soap characters they had come to embody. Now, however, their singles are routinely mocked by the pair, as they shed their gawky teen image and became the dynamic duo that we know and love today.

Their TV Careers

First beginning their presenting career at SMTV live, the cheeky pair were joined by Cat Deeley to present the hit comic children's show. Leaving the days of Wonky Donkey far behind, tears were shed by many a child as the pair departed the award-winning hit programme in 2001. The duo then went on to receive an offer for their first prime time slot in Pop Idol during the same year.

Going from strength to strength, the pair now present I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! as well as talent competition Britain's Got Talent. Unsurprsingly, Ant and Dec have since gone on to win eleven National Television Awards for Best Presenter, as well as scoring a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ages of just 27.

Their Family Lives

Although unseperable on screen, their romantic lives have gone down different routes. Ant McPartlin wed make-up artist love Lisa Armstrong in 2006 and, naturally, his partner in crime Dec was his best man. 

Their relationship nonetheless crumbled, with the pair finalising their divorce in 2020 after 12 years of marriage.  Lisa was granted a divorce from Ant in 2018 due to the TV presenter's adultery and because he was reportedly "intolerable to live with". 

He went on to marry Anne-Marie Corbett in 2021, with the couple tying the knot at St Michael Church in Heckfield in front of family and friends. Anne is Ant's former personal assistant, who worked for the same management company as Declan's wife, Ali Astall. 

Dec, meanwhile, dated Grange Hill actress Clare Buckfield for ten years, but the pair went on to split in 2003. Single until 2009, the presenter found love in the form of Sky Sports presenter Georgie Porter, whom he dated for two years. In 2013, Dec found love with his manager of ten years, Ali Astall. The loved-up couple were together for a year before Dec popped the question in November 2014, and they married the following August at St Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Elswick. 

Dec and Ali are doting parents to daughter Isla and Jack Anthony Alphonsus.

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