Declan Donnelly, also known as ‘Dec,’ is a British television host, producer, and actor. He is best known as one half of the ‘Ant & Dec’ comedy duo, who are best known for hosting the reality television shows ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ and ‘Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.’ Both ‘Dec’ Donnelly and Anthony ‘Ant’ McPartlin became a team and worked together after establishing their separate careers on the children’s drama series ‘Byker Grove.’ So far, their collaboration has been a huge success. Donnelly is also known for being one half of the pop duet PJ & Duncan. He has been dubbed a “national treasure” by the media for his contributions to British television over the past two decades, and he was awarded an OBE for his services to broadcasting in 2016. He and his colleague Anthony McPartlin have also shared the British Academy Television Award for Entertainment Performance several times.
Career of Declan Donnelly
Declan Donnelly rose to notoriety for his role as Duncan in the TV series ‘Byker Grove,’ which aired from 1989 until 2006. He read an article in a local newspaper when he was 12 years old calling for young actors for a TV show being filmed in Newcastle. His father encouraged him to try out for the show. He got the part, and it was on the set of ‘Byker Grove’ that he met his future partner McPartlin. In his early years, Donnelly also played a stable boy in the dramatization of the story “The Cinder Path.”
With a solid on-screen and off-screen connection, Donnelly and McPartlin began presenting performances as a partnership in June 2002, and began hosting the famous entertainment programme ‘Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.’ They invite audience members to participate in games and win prizes during the performance. ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ is a reality show hosted by the duo on ITV.
They returned to acting in 2006, starring in the comedy ‘Alien Autopsy,’ about two British teenagers who are accused of fabricating a documentary. They also appeared in the film ‘Love Actually’ in the commercially failed pantomime ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ at Sunderland’s Empire Theatre.
They then went on to host ‘Britain’s Got Talent,’ which began in June 2007. When they interviewed ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant Susan Boyle in April 2009, the duo received widespread international attention.
They also hosted ‘The Royal Variety Performance,’ an annual variety performance to benefit the Royal Variety Charity. Donnelly and McPartlin also hosted ‘Ant & Dec’s ‘Push the Button,’ a game show that aired on ITV from February 2010 to April 2011. Then they went on to host a TV game show called “Red or Black?” that aired on ITV from September 2011 to September 2012.
To develop their own shows, the two formed their own production business, Mitre Television. In 2001, 2015, and 2016, they hosted the annual Brit Awards. Ant & Dec were voted the 18th most important personalities in British culture in a BBC poll in 2004.
Ant and Dec have dabbled in mainstream music as well. ‘Tonight I’m Free’ was their first single. Following the popularity of the single, they made two albums under the moniker ‘PJ & Duncan.’ Their track “Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble,” which was nominated for a BRIT Award, was also a great smash.
Then they made an album as ‘Ant & Dec’ under their real identities. ‘Shout,’ their trademark single, was included on the album. They’ve recorded 16 singles and three studio albums so far, but none of them have ever reached No. 1. Their highest chart position in the United Kingdom was No. 3.
Scandals & Controversies
When Donnelly and McPartlin released a tune called ‘Falling,’ it sparked a lot of debate. Ant & Dec were accused of stealing their music and releasing it without their permission, according to a Welsh pop duo who alleged copyright infringement. As a result, their record label, Telstar Records, took the tune off the charts in the United Kingdom and dropped them from the label.
In 2007, investigating auditors from the auditing firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu discovered that its game shows ‘Marathon’ and ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ had cheated fans who engaged via phone calls.
Declan’s Personal Life
‘Dec’ Joseph Oliver Donnelly was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on September 25, 1975, to Alphonsus and Anne Donnelly. Camelia, Moira, and Patricia are his three sisters, and Eamonn, Dermott, and Martin are his three brothers. In the 1950s, his parents, who were born in Northern Ireland, moved to Newcastle. St Michael’s Roman Catholic Primary School and St Cuthbert’s High School were both attended by Donnelly.
Donnelly proposed to his manager Ali Astall, whom he has been dating since 2013, on November 13, 2014. On August 1, 2015, they married.
Donnelly is a patron of the Sunshine Fund and a supporter of Text Santa and the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. In 2013, he co-founded W4 Youth, a West London neighborhood youth project.