Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly addressed their huge bust-up with Simon Cowell.
After nearly two decades as the unmistakable faces of Britain’s Got Talent, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have admitted they once came perilously close to quitting the show altogether — following a serious falling-out with judge and boss Simon Cowell.
The presenting duo, who have hosted the ITV talent juggernaut since its launch in 2007, confessed they reached breaking point in 2012 after what they described as “not having a nice time” behind the scenes. Their frustrations reportedly centred on feeling increasingly sidelined on screen, coupled with growing irritation over Simon’s habitual late arrivals during auditions.
Speaking candidly on the Stick to Football podcast, Ant and Dec revealed that tensions escalated so dramatically they flew to Los Angeles with the sole intention of handing in their notice.
Ant explained that while Simon is often portrayed as formidable, he can also be “charming” and “funny,” adding that the pair have always shared an unusually honest relationship with him.
“He asks our opinion and trusts our opinion,” Ant said. “I think he respects the fact that we’ve been doing it as long as we have.”
However, that respect was tested during a difficult period when the duo felt increasingly marginalised.
“We’d been annoyed with him a few times over the years,” Ant admitted. “There was a time when we weren’t having a very nice time at all.”
The situation reached a tipping point when Simon’s lateness became a daily issue. Ant recalled that during that phase, Simon would “just never turn up on time,” while Dec added that they felt they were appearing on the show less and less, despite it taking up a huge portion of their lives.
“We thought, what’s the point?” Dec said. “If we’re barely in the show and it’s taking all our time, we might as well leave and put our energy elsewhere.”
Determined to confront the issue head-on, the pair arranged a meeting with Simon in Los Angeles. What followed, they say, was unexpected.
According to Ant, Simon listened carefully as they laid out their grievances, before pleading with them to stay.
“He promised things would change,” Ant revealed. “He said he’d turn up on time, that we’d be featured more, and that we’d enjoy it again.”
Dec recalled how Simon, clearly rattled by the ultimatum, leaned across the table mid-lunch and jokingly tickled him, insisting: “You will never leave me.”
“To be fair to Simon,” Ant added, “he sat there, took it all in, and listened intently — for four, maybe five cigarettes.”
In the end, the duo agreed to stay on for another series to see whether Simon would follow through on his promises. According to them, he did.
Dec later praised Simon for keeping his word, saying: “He desperately wanted us to stay, and to be fair to him, things really did change. We never felt like that again.”
The revelation sheds new light on one of Britain’s longest-running TV partnerships — and a behind-the-scenes crisis fans never knew existed.
Thankfully for viewers, Ant and Dec ultimately chose loyalty over walking away. The pair are now set to return once again as hosts when Britain’s Got Talent comes back to ITV later this year, alongside judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and KSI.
What nearly ended one of TV’s most iconic double acts has instead become another chapter in their long-running story — one that almost went very differently.
