Let’s get ready to jungle
Dec’s delighted to be reunited with jungle co-host pal
DECLAN Donnelly says it’s great to be back with troubled pal Ant McPartlin as they prepare to keep the nation in stitches on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.
The pair are itching to get the show started after Ant spent time in rehab for painkiller addiction this summer.
Speaking for the first time since his best friend’s problems were revealed, Dec said: “We’re really excited. We’ll have the same old shenanigans on I’m a Celebrity... but with a few little twists.”
Asked about being apart from Ant during rehab, Dec said: “I’m looking forward to spending more time with him. It’s brilliant to be back together – it’s perfect. Everything slots back into place. We are raring to go.”
The pair have jetted to Australia and driven to a rented penthouse apartment close to the I’m a Celebrity... camp in Murwillumbah, New South Wales.
They have been joined by Dec’s wife Ali Astall, who is also their manager.
Ant and Ali have been seen relaxing by the pool ahead of the new series of the ITV reality show. Ant, 41, said of his return to TV: “I’m excited to be back, I can’t wait. I’m feeling great. The flight was all right... me and Dec had a good catch-up. It’s going to be a good show.”
Normally, the pair play golf several times a week while Down Under – but Dec said that could wait for now, adding: “Let’s get into the show first.”
Ant’s wife Lisa, 41, is busy in London where she is head make-up artist on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.Yesterday, she poured scorn on stories suggesting she and Ant were living separate lives, tweeting: “Haven’t been to Oz for 10 years. I have a job. I’m not estranged thank you. As you were.”
After their show Saturday Night Takeaway ends in the spring, Ant and Dec usually spend summer together, relaxing on holiday and playing golf.
But this year, they have been kept apart by Ant’s knee surgery and the rehab sessions, which have also meant him living away from the home he
shares with Lisa. After a few concerns about the star, ITV bosses are hopeful the show will be as strong as usual now medics have given Ant the all-clear to co-host with Dec.
They will kick off with a 105-minute show next weekend.
The show is starting a week later than last year, which ITV have insisted is nothing to do with Ant’s health battle.
But it means he will be working most of next weekend when he turns 42 – so his usual boozy party at an Aussie bar will be axed. A source close to Ant and Dec said: “They have been in the business for more than 25 years and they know there will be a lot of scrutiny on the first few shows this year because of what Ant has been through.
“But they have always been total pros and are just keen to get going. It is a series which really shows off their brilliant jokes and their friendship.
“Dec has been a rock for Ant since he went public with his problems and he will be there for his friend if there are any last-minute nerves. They will work harder than ever to make this series a great one.”
Flanked by heavy security, Ant and Dec picked up groceries yesterday and began setting themselves up for their month-long stay in Oz.
Ant, 41, revealed his problems in August, saying at the time he had been driven to drugs because of a painful knee injury.
He explained: “I was at the point where anything – prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs – I would take. And take them with alcohol, which is ridiculous. The doctors told me, ‘You could have killed yourself.’”
In the summer, Ant said he knew the game was up as he pleaded with his wife Lisa to get him to hospital after bingeing on tramadol, morphine and alcohol while recovering from a second knee operation in June.
He recalled: “It was five in the morning and I was screaming in pain so I rang Lisa. She was upstairs because I was living in the living room because I couldn’t get around.”
Asked if his doctor warned him of the risks, Ant admitted: “Yeah. And the warnings are on the packet. I didn’t take them as seriously as I should have.
“And I drank with them, which was stupid and very reckless.
“I didn’t think how dangerous they are.
“You just think you know best – I’m in more pain, I’ll just whack another one down. That’s the danger – selfmedicating.” ● I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! begins at 9pm on Sunday on ITV.