New Ant and Dec one-off documentary to show 'who the lads really are' behind cameras

Virgin Radio

17 Feb 2023, 10:51

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have been on our teles for 35 years, but for the first time ever we'll be getting a glimpse behind-the-scenes in a new one-off documentary.

Ant said about the upcoming fly-on-the-wall offering for ITV: “We are really excited to lift the curtain a little on Saturday Night Takeaway.  We'll have footage of all the ups and downs, the last-minute dramas that come with making a weekly live entertainment show. Believe me there are lots of dramas that happen behind the scenes." 

“We love watching fly on the wall shows like Drive To Survive which goes behind the scenes of F1 so thought it could be really fun to allow the cameras to see how we make Saturday Night Takeaway. I’d love to see Behind The Screens on more entertainment shows," added Dec.

A source told The Sun: “This is a huge deal. People have grown up with Ant and Dec and their cheeky style means viewers have always felt like they know them.

“So it will be really fun for them to take that to the next level and see the lads backstage, warts and all."

The source continued: "They've always made a clear distinction between their lives on and off camera and kept their private lives relatively out of the limelight. For the first time we'll see a glimpse of who the lads really are.

"There's nothing like seeing a celebrity when they're under pressure, or when something hasn't gone to plan - in those cracks are where you find out who someone really is - and that's going to be the beauty of this project."

Diego Rincón, Creative Director at Lifted Entertainment said: “For the first time in 19 series we are welcoming a documentary crew to pry into every area of the production, to reveal exactly what goes into making this juggernaut of a show… which is both exciting and terrifying! However, as well as seeing what Ant & Dec have for breakfast on show days, this programme will also no doubt reveal just how much passion, dedication, planning, creativity and hard work goes into entertaining the nation every Saturday night.”

Set to air this spring, the documentary is being made by ITV and the Geordie stars' production firm Mitre Studios.

The one-off show will also go backstage of the new series of Saturday Night Takeaway which begins on February 25.