Ant and Dec have opened up about maintaining their long friendship, with Dec revealing that sometimes they need to “give each other space and time”.
The TV presenters have been friends since the 80s when they met on the set of children’s drama Byker Grove aged 13. They have now been working together for more than three decades and have hosted many TV shows, such as Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The pair have announced that their new series of Saturday Night Takeaway will be the last for a while as they rest the show. The Geordie duo have now opened up about their bond and explained they need a break.
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Asked about “the most challenging aspect” they’ve had to overcome creatively, Ant told Fault magazine: “I think for any pauses we’ve had, whether we pause Saturday Night Takeaway consciously or when I had a break from TV for a while.
(Image: ITV/Kieron McCarron/Shutterstock)
“I think anytime you come back together, you have to almost relearn each other again but because of that, you have a deeper respect for one another and a deeper love for one another.” The stars both turn 49 this year and Dec said they are not the same people they were when they met at 13.
(Image: Getty Images)
Indeed, Ant is due to be a dad as his wife Anne-Marie is pregnant with their first baby. She is expected to give birth in June.
“So throughout our career, you know, we’ve both changed,” he said. “But being able to maintain that friendship doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes you have to work with friendships, and sometimes you have to compromise and sometimes you have to give each other space and time and whatever.”
Dec has previously spoken of his fears for the pair’s partnership after Ant’s conviction for drink-driving. In 2018 Ant was fined £86,000 and given a 20-month driving ban after pleading guilty to drink-driving. He spent time in rehab and took a step back from TV.
(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking on Ant And Dec’s DNA Journey in 2019, Dec admitted: “It has been a tough couple of years and it has tested the bond we have shared since we were 13 years old. I was incredibly angry at the start, so angry.
“Disappointed that he didn’t ever come to me and say, ‘I am struggling, I need you,’ because that is what I would do if the shoe was on the other foot. And he never came to me and that hurt me a lot.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
