Ant and Dec reveal they regret not having children sooner in rare discussion about fatherhood
27 March 2026, 12:15
The presenting duo open up about family life, timing, and the realities of becoming fathers later in life.
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Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have revealed they wish they had become fathers earlier in life, describing parenthood as “our biggest achievement.”
Ant, 50, became a father for the first time in May 2024 when his son Wilder was born with wife Anne-Marie Corbett, 47. He is also stepdad to her two teenage daughters.
Declan, also 50, has two children with his wife Ali Astall, 47: seven-year-old Isla and three-year-old Jack.
During a recent episode of their podcast Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, a listener asked the duo about fatherhood.
Declan admitted, “It's the best thing ever. I wish I'd done it earlier and I wish I'd had ten,” before laughing, “maybe not ten. Maybe three.” Ant agreed, saying, “I've got three and I'd have more.”
Reflecting on his own experience, Ant added: “It is the best, the absolute best being a dad. And 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 because I got to be able to talk to them straight away.
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"We could go out and the feedback was immediate. 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.”
He continued, “It changes you for the better. All of the sleepless nights, the early mornings, the tiredness is worth it. It's the greatest thing I think you can do. It far surpasses anything that we've achieved in our career.”
Declan echoed the sentiment, calling parenthood “our biggest achievement. Of everything we've done professionally, it's the thing that I think we've got the most satisfaction from.
"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.”
He added, “For me, I was lucky enough to have two, a girl and a boy. I was a bit worried before Jack came along because I thought, ‘God, am I ever going to be able to love him as much as I love Isla?’
"Do I have to half my love to both of them? Do they both get half of my love? Because she's got it all at the moment. And then he came along and you realise then, oh no, you don't half anything. You get double the love. You reach another level within you that you just find more love for this other little thing.”
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, who married Anne-Marie in August 2021 at St Michael's Church in Heckfield, Hampshire, said: “I do kiss a lot though. I do like kissing. It's one of the things to do. My wife, the same person. I'm not going around just kissing loads of people.
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"I like kissing we should kiss more. Not me and you. People should just kiss. Kissing's great, isn't it? Isn't kissing great? Isn't it though? Think of the first kiss you ever had, and the kisses got better as you got older. It's great.”
Declan responded: “Keep it for the kitchen or wherever you do it but don't broadcast it to everybody!”
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