Podcast Corner: Six things we learned from Ant and Dec's first podcast
And and Dec — Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly — have launched a new podcast. Picture: Ian West/PA
It’s surprising that Ant and Dec are only starting a podcast now in 2026. Perennial fixtures on TVs since the 1990s, the duo have launched a YouTube channel, Belta Box, featuring celebrity pranks, challenges, sketches and favourites - and podcasts. New episodes of drop Monday and Thursday. Here’s what we learned from the first episode.
They started the podcast because they don’t see each other as much. Ant: “We decided eventually to do a podcast because we realised we're not hanging out as much as we used to.” They’re fathers to very small and big children and Ant’s just moved house (a “spectacular” home, according to his TV partner) so geographically, they’re further away. Dec continues: “We decided to come up with the idea of doing a podcast to sit together and talk some rubbish.” Simple.
Dry January didn’t exactly go to plan: While Ant says he’s been sober for eight years, Dec couldn’t last a week without a drink. He’d had a stressful day with the kids — they’ve been feral since new year’s — and going back to school didn’t do much for their discipline. “So I was gonna do dry January. In the end Saturday night, put them to bed and open a bottle of wine.”
Ant is trying to clean up his language – via a word-of-the-day app: With his 20-month-old son rapidly picking up new words, Ant has decided it’s time to swear less and expand his vocabulary. Enter a word-of-the-day app. Today’s word: boondoggle — “a wasteful, unnecessary project”; how apt on the first day of filming their podcast, they joke.
Choosing a butcher by their number plate: Having moved house, Ant is in search of a good butcher — “I’m serious about my meat.” A la Goldilocks, one is a little too posh, another too rough, but the third one, who he sees leaning against his car, is just right. How does he know? Because his car reg reads ‘Rib Eye’. “Now, if you've got that as your registration, you’re serious about meat.”
Dec kept a wonderfully earnest 90s pop diary: Rummaging through storage, Dec unearthed a 1994 diary from their PJ & Duncan days, documenting under‑18s discos, Travelodge stays, and the single that preceded their breakthrough hit (Why Me? In case you were wondering). Acts who played alongside them in those early days included Bad Boys Inc and General Something; “Top blokes. Respect, guys,” he wrote. Cue uproarious laughter.
Alan Shearer is not on their dream dinner party guest list: Geordies for life, Ant is surprised at Shearer’s omission from their collaborative dream dinner guests (Dec: “I’ve had dinner with Shearer - done that!”). Bobby Robson is also out. Their full list: Kevin Keegan, author William Boyd, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, and er, Queen Elizabeth II.
