Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have revealed they wish they had become fathers earlier in life, describing parenthood as their greatest achievement. The presenting duo, both aged 50, shared their thoughts during a recent episode of their podcast Hanging Out With Ant & Dec.
Ant, who became a father for the first time in May 2024 when his son Wilder was born with wife Anne-Marie Corbett, said: 'It is the best, the absolute best being a dad.' He is also stepfather to Anne-Marie's two teenage daughters. Declan, who has two children with wife Ali Astall, seven-year-old Isla and three-year-old Jack, admitted: 'It's the best thing ever. I wish I'd done it earlier and I wish I'd had ten.'
Reflecting on his journey to fatherhood, Ant said: 'I was lucky enough to be stepdad to my girls a few years before my son was born. So, I feel like I had a really great introduction to fatherhood... And then when Wilder came along, I got to do all of the baby and toddler stuff that I didn't get to do with the girls. So, I've had the best of both worlds really.'
Declan called parenthood 'our biggest achievement. Of everything we've done professionally, it's the thing that I think we've got the most satisfaction from.' He added: 'When they first come along, you don't realise how much they change your life, but for the better, the absolute better. And it's almost like when they do come along, you've discovered the meaning of life.'
Earlier this month, Ant shared personal details about his intimate life with Anne-Marie on the podcast, prompting Declan to joke that he found it 'a bit icky.' Ant said: 'I do kiss a lot though. I do like kissing. It's one of the things to do... I like kissing we should kiss more. Not me and you. People should just kiss.'
