JUST 12 months ago, it looked like Ant & Dec’s reign as the kings of TV presenting could be coming to an end.
But a year on, it seems they were just getting started.
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Last September, the Georgie double act — and many watching at home — were left reeling when at the National Television Awards they finally failed to claim the Best Presenter gong.
After winning it jointly for 23 years, they were beaten to the honour by Gary Lineker.
It hurt them all the more because the TV awards are voted for by the viewing public and cheeky Ant & Dec have long been seen as the people’s presenters.
But as the results of the 2026 NTAs are counted ahead of a glittering bash at London’s 02 Arena tonight, they are now favourites to reclaim the award that for so long they made their own.
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Better still, it comes as they prepare for a career peak next year which will see them appear in a SEVEN different shows, comprising of of 70 episodes.
The latest of those shows, I’m A Celebrity: The Wild Frontier, has finally been confirmed by ITV after we first revealed in May that it had been commissioned.
A TV insider said: “Bagging yet another massive TV project is an incredible feat for Ant & Dec who many people thought might have to start winding down once they’d reached their 50th birthdays last year.
“After all, a lot of their charm and charisma was based in the fact they were happy-go-lucky Geordie lads who most viewers will recall as fresh-faced teenagers on [Geordie teen drama] Byker Grove. .
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“And a lot of their appeal was that they retained an air of mischievousness and cheekiness that made for a winning formula when it came to fronting entertainment shows.
“But far from giving in to the fact that they’re now middle-aged, they’ve become more adventurous and hard-working, experimenting with ambitious and playful TV projects.
“They’re doing more, not less, and diversifying at a time when lots of presenters may have thought it best to start taking things easy.
“It’s partly down to the fact they don’t take things for granted and, especially since becoming parents, are more appreciative of their lives and careers than ever before.”
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Ant became a dad to Wilder in 2024, with wife Anne-Marie Corbett while Dec and wife Ali Astall have eight-year old daughter Isla and four year-old son Jack.
But starting families certainly has not seen them slow down in their careers. In fact, 2027 will be their busiest TV year ever.
As well as fronting 14 episodes of Britain’s Got Talent, which usually runs for three months in spring, ITV recently announced the pair will mark 20 years of BGT by hosting a new series of spin-off BGT: The Champions which last ran in 2019.
That will be on top of them doing 22 episodes of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! in Australia from this November to December, and I’m A Celebrity: The Wild Frontier which is expected to run to 16 episodes around spring of next year.
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They also have another five-episode run of their quiz show Limitless Win in the pipeline, and three episodes of the show they make with pal Stephen Mulhern, Accidental Tourist — not to mention their new crazy-golf gameshow Holey Moley which is likely to run to four episodes.
The variety of programmes is deliberate, as Dec once explained in an interview: “Whenever we’re thinking of new shows or new projects for ourselves, we always think about how do we appeal to the whole family? How do we get that?”
As well as their long-running shows on prime-time ITV, they’re also trying to attract the youngest market though their YouTube channel, BeltaBox.
It already boasts 745,000 subscribers – not bad to say they only launched in January of this year.
Since then they’ve posted almost 1,000 videos on there, including their podcast, brand new footage as well as old clips from some of the finest moments in their career.
Another TV insider said: “What’s really impressive about Ant and Dec is that they haven’t just rested on their laurels and projects like their YouTube channel show they have their finger on the pulse.
“They can spot changing trends and keep up with them in their own way, which means the great TV Gods are reminded they’re pros who really know what they’re doing.
“Another reminder came earlier this year with the infamous final of I’m A Celebrity South Africa when things kicked off between Jimmy Bullard, David Haye and Adam Thomas.
“Ant & Dec somehow managed to keep things on the rails even though it was an incredibly tense moment which could have delivered a flashpoint on live TV, but they handled it well.
“That’s one of the areas where they’re perhaps underestimated because everyone knows them as those happy-go-lucky lads from Newcastle, in fact they’re just unassuming pros with decades of experience of making TV under their belts.
“The execs know that only too well.”
That’s why last year Ant & Dec received another three-year deal with
ITV estimated to be worth £30million – which is believed to be the last golden handcuffs deal left in telly.
Clearly channel chiefs weren’t put off by their age, either. Once upon a time – for men and women – being middle-aged meant you fell between the stools of being the two main characters often seen among presenters : the bright young thing or distinguished TV veteran.
But in recent years there have been a whole raft of fifty-something stars who’ve blazed a trail in the world of light entertainment – Davina McCall, Amanda Holden, Tess Daly, Claudia Winkleman and Emma Willis.
Now it’s the turn of the men who are hitting their stride as they hit the milestone age. Following Ant and Dec into being hugely successful in their fifties are Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr and Lee Mack.
Suddenly hitting the big 5-0 doesn’t mean you can only read the news or present the weather and research shows that even millennials and Gen Z viewers tend to warm to an older presenter rather than a younger one.
Proof of this can be found in the fact that Ant and Dec aren’t just in the running for the best presenter award in the NTAs. They’re also nominated in the Best Quiz category for Limitless Win, which they launched in 2022 and has already run for five series.
Two of their other big shows – I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! I’m A Celebrity . . . South Africa – are both nominated in the Reality Series category.
Meanwhile Britain’s Got Talent, which they’ve hosted since it launched 20 years ago, has been nominated in the talent show category.
None of them would be what they are today without Ant & Dec and, far from looking like they’re facing the chop are now getting spin-off shows, or extended, or both.
Dec once said: “There are less of those big scale shows around so to get one of those is a kind of holy grail.
Dec: “Maybe ten years ago, you’d just roll through it and you just write another show and you’re not as present. Maybe it’s about getting older and having kids.”
Ant added: “We’re more grateful for it now than we were when we first started hosting those shows because we’ve got families of our own and we’ve grown up.
“We’ve gone: ‘God these are important, and it’s important to keep these going because they’re getting fewer and fewer.”
“We never stop on a daily basis and go: this is crazy, isn’t it? you just kind of get on with it. you just kinda roll with it and do the next project and enjoy what you do.”
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“I think the older you get and the longer you’ve been doing it, and this is really genuine, the more grateful you are for what you do and
I’m more grateful now doing these shows.”