Ant And Dec Love Being Neighbours In Chiswick

Locally- based stars feature on Desert Island Discs

TV presenters Ant and Dec, the kings of Saturday night prime time, love living a a few doors away from each other in Chiswick, according to their latest interview.

Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were Kirsty Young's castaways on last Sundays edition of Desert Island Discs in which they discussed their careers, their firm friendship and the effect of the 2007 ITV Phone Line scandal.

The pair said that they moved to Chiswick after sharing a flat in Fulham which was " hideous. Like Men Behaving Badly". They joked that Ant moved to Chiswick when he got married to get away from Dec but when Dec found a house in the same street, they had to ask Ant's wife for permission.

The three get on well and often have dinner together at home.

The pair were the first to be jointly interviewed for the programme since Spitting Image's Peter Fluck and Roger Law back in 1987.

Ant said they took very different routes into performing- he had been very shy as a youngster growing up in Newcastle and it took a lot of pursuasion to get him out of himself while Dec could 'do a turn' of Irish dancing The firm friendship spans twenty-odd years beginning as child actors on Byker Grove and currently as hosts of Britain's Got Talent, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Saturday NIght Takeaway.

The list of songs chosen for the programme included Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell)- as Dec said it reminded him of long car trips to Ireland for summer holidays; Baggy Trousers ( Madness) and the theme from Byker Grove.

Referring to the 2007 ITV Phoneline scandal (which occurred on shows in which Ant and Dec were credited as executive producers) Ant says that “our audience trust us, we were worried that that trust had gone…we thought that was it…we couldn’t comprehend how it was allowed to happen…”

Dec commented; ”If that had of been the end, I don’t think we could have had many complaints”

When asked whether they were concerned about the health of Susan Boyle during Britain's Got Talent, Ant replied “Absolutely. We worried about her a lot”. However, he also indicated that  the standard of care handed out backstage was “very high”. Dec argues that "the press, not the show, was most to blame for her breakdown."

They ended by saying that “our biggest success has been our friendship, and nothing will ever change that”

A complete list of the songs on their chosen list can be found on; www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/75880a4c#b03mckqs

They laughed off the suggestion that they should have chosen their World Cup single,  We’re On the Ball.

January 4, 2014