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Declan Donnelly has confessed he ‘broke the law’ after accidentally shoplifting an entire haul from Marks & Spencer, and only realising once he’d started eating the evidence.
The TV presenter, 50, revealed he managed to leave a motorway service station without paying for his shopping following a holiday in Cornwall with wife Ali Astall.
Dec was happily tucking into an egg and maple bacon sandwich when the penny dropped that, while he’d diligently scanned every item and even remembered his Sparks card, he’d forgotten the rather crucial final step of actually paying.
Naturally, he immediately became convinced an arrest was imminent.
‘I nearly got arrested yesterday,’ he announced to Ant McPartlin on the latest episode of their podcast Hanging Out With Ant And Dec.
A confused Ant asked what on earth he meant, prompting his presenting partner to confess: ‘I nearly didn’t make it here today. I could have got arrested yesterday. I broke the law yesterday.’
Dec explained that he and Ali had been making the lengthy drive home from Cornwall when they stopped at Bridgwater Services in Somerset for a toilet break and some food.
And, as discerning motorway travellers apparently do, they specifically sought out somewhere with an M&S.
‘We like stopping at services with an M&S because it’s nice, it does good sandwiches,’ he explained.
The couple proceeded to assemble quite the spread, picking up sandwiches, crisps, a ‘little sweet treat’ and some bang bang chicken to share.
‘So far none of this is arrest material,’ Ant helpfully pointed out.
That was about to change. Dec headed to the self-service checkout and began scanning everything before realising he’d need a bag for life to carry the haul.
He scanned that too, packed up his food and even remembered to scan his Sparks loyalty card.
Then he simply left.
‘I just walked off,’ he admitted. ‘I put everything in the bag. Bleeped me Sparks card. Didn’t pay for anything.’
‘Declan Donnelly is a thief!’ Ant declared upon hearing the confession.
Remarkably, Dec remained blissfully unaware of his life of crime until he was back on the road and had already started eating his sandwich. It was mid-bite when he turned to Ali and realised something was amiss.
‘I went, “I haven’t paid for this”,’ he recalled.
When his wife questioned what he meant, Dec explained: ‘I haven’t paid for it. I bleeped me Sparks card and I just left.’
Dec tried calling the service station but couldn’t get through, so instead contacted his team to confess.
‘I get on the phone to the office to the girls in the office and I say, “I’ve just shoplifted from Bridgwater Services. My heartrate is slightly raised. I think I’m going to get arrested because they know it was me”,’ he recalled.
‘Of course,’ Ant responded. ‘You’re one of the most recognisable men in Britain, you can’t get away with this behaviour.’
His team eventually managed to contact the services and explain that Dec had accidentally departed with his unpaid-for lunch – and was, by that point, actively consuming ‘the spoils of his endeavours.’
Fortunately for Dec, there would be no dramatic police chase down the M5.
Staff reportedly thanked him for his honesty but explained there wasn’t anything they could do retrospectively, instead asking him to make a donation to the retailer’s charity partner.
Dec duly obliged, donating slightly more than the cost of the food he’d accidentally taken.
‘I made a donation to charity to cover the sandwiches,’ he said. ‘So I am slightly out of pocket, because it was more than my sandwich.’
He also confirmed that M&S hadn’t subsequently been in touch about the incident, seemingly bringing Britain’s briefest celebrity crime spree to an end.
There was, however, potentially one casualty. ‘They were going to be a sponsor of this podcast,’ Ant joked.
‘Not anymore.’
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