ITV Extends Deal with Hosts Ant & Dec

LONDON: TV presenters Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, better known as Ant and Dec, have expanded their relationship with ITV through a three-year deal that will see them appear exclusively on the channel until at least the end of 2019.

The extended agreement includes additional seasons of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain’s Got Talent and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Ant and Dec joined ITV in 1998, presenting the Saturday morning shows SM:tv LIVE and CD:UK. They have been exclusively signed to the channel since 2000.

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of television, said, “Ant and Dec are quite simply brilliant entertainers and I’m thrilled that we will be working together for another three years. They are incredibly passionate about television and have that rare ability to connect with audiences of all ages, which has helped make the shows they present some of the biggest on British TV.”

Ant and Dec commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be extending our relationship with ITV, to continue on the three shows we love as well as exploring further opportunities both in front of and behind the camera. This deal will take us past the 20-year mark with ITV and we couldn’t be happier.”