Ant & Dec

Ant & Dec are an English television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama Byker Grove, they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, the names of their characters from the series. The pair are considered the most famous and successful British presenting double act of the 21st century. Their enduring popularity and continuous presence on prime-time television have made them a staple of British entertainment.

The duo have since pursued careers as television presenters, and currently host I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Britain's Got Talent, and Limitless Win. Previous hosting credits include SMTV Live, CD:UK, Friends Like These, Pop Idol, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, PokerFace, Wanna Bet?, Push the Button, Red or Black?, and Text Santa. They presented the annual Brit Awards in 2001, 2015 and 2016.

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, Ant & Dec were named the eighteenth most influential people in British culture.

McPartlin and Donnelly met while working on the second series of children's drama Byker Grove for the BBC in 1990. After a shaky start, they soon became best friends. 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 a six-figure sum.

They are both avid supporters of their local football club, Newcastle United. The pair were in attendance at Wembley Stadium to watch Newcastle win the 2025 EFL Cup, the club's first major trophy in 56 years and their first domestic trophy in 70 years. The pair joined the team on the double decker bus for their victory parade in Newcastle 2 weeks after the cup win.

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, Donnelly was the first of the two to acquire his place on the BBC children's drama Byker Grove. 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. 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.

Since becoming television presenters, the pair have, albeit infrequently, returned to acting, both on stage and screen. They played themselves in the film Love Actually (in which Bill Nighy's character addressed Dec as "Ant or Dec"). They have returned to their Geordie roots in a one-off tribute to The Likely Lads and also by returning to Byker Grove for Geoff's funeral. In July 2023, it was announced that the pair would produce a reboot of Byker Grove, to simply be called Byker.