Declan Donnelly says being dad to his two kids is ‘my favourite thing in the world’ and admitted that he wishes he’d had ‘tons more’.
The presenter, 50, shares daughter Isla, seven, and son Jack, three, with his wife Ali Astall, and declared they were ‘the most incredible thing that’s ever happened me’.
Appearing on Fearne Cotton‘s Happy Place podcast alongside his partner in crime, Ant McPartlin, Dec said he regrets not starting a family earlier and that his focus now he was 50, was staying healthy to be around for his kids as long as possible.
Discussing parenting, the Geordie star said: ‘I find it challenging, I find it hard, but it’s the most rewarding thing.
‘Everything we’ve ever achieved in our career, does not hold a candle to being a dad. It is my favourite thing in the world. And I wish I had done it 10 years earlier, if not more because I love it so much.
‘We just turned 50 last year, and my mindframe now is I just want to be around for as long as I possibly can to grow up with these guys and to be fit and healthy to be able to lift them up, even when they’re 25 and they don’t want to be lifted up.
Declan Donnelly says being dad to his two kids is ‘my favourite thing in the world’ and admitted that he wishes he’d had ‘tons more’ (seen in 2024)
The presenter, 50, shares daughter Isla, seven, and son Jack, three, with his wife Ali Astall, and declared they were ‘the most incredible thing that’s ever happened me’ (seen together in 2023)
‘I just want to be there for them and enjoy them for as long as I possibly can because they are the most incredible thing that’s ever happened me. Honest to god, I wish I had done it far earlier and had tons more.’
The I’m A Celebrity co-host also got candid about his mental health struggles, as he confessed that he needed to ‘work harder at it’.
Praising his best pal Ant, 50, for being disciplined when it came to putting in the work in his sobriety, Dec admitted that he was less proficient at managing his anxiety.
He explained how he often has thoughts ‘swimming around his head that he doesn’t know how to deal with’, which mean he struggles to relax.
Dec said: ‘I need to work on [my mental health] a bit better. I’m not as disciplined. My approach is a bit more sporadic and I need to work a bit harder.
‘I try and start meditating every now and again and I give up because I get distracted. I need to work harder at it, but it’s difficult and it’s not always brilliant. Sometimes I find it harder than others, I always feel it’s work in progress.’
He went on: ‘I struggle a bit with, a kind of a low level, constant anxiety about “I should be doing this” or “I’ve got something else I need to be doing”.
‘I never feel I can sit down and just watch telly, I always feel like I should be doing something else. There’s that anxiety that there’s a job that needs to be done somewhere and I should be doing it.
Appearing on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast alongside his partner in crime, Ant McPartlin, Dec said he regrets not starting a family earlier and that his focus now he was 50, was staying healthy to be around for his kids as long as possible (seen with Ant in April)
‘So, I think I struggle with that a lot, of trying to calm that voice in the back of your head that’s going, “no, you should be using this time more productively. You should be doing something else!” So, I struggle a lot with that and I’m up and down.’
The BGT star added: ‘I went through a period of having therapy about five or six years ago and I really got a lot out of it. I really enjoyed it. Then I took a little break from it. It’s really good and this has inspired me today, I’m going to go back.’
While he said that talking his thoughts aloud to Ant also aided him, as he explained: ‘Do you know what I found really helpful was because sometimes you can just sit in your own head and have all these thoughts and feelings swimming around in your brain, and you don’t know how to make sense of them.
‘And sometimes I’d be just sat in a room opposite my guy and you say something out loud and it comes out of your mouth and it goes in your ear and you go, “That is ridiculous. What I’ve just said is ridiculous”.
‘But you don’t realize that until you’ve said it out loud. And he’s going, “But why do you think that?” and I go, “Do you know what, I don’t know. Now that I’ve said that I’ve realised that is really stupid”. But it’s swimming around in your head and you don’t know how to deal with it.’
The duo’s Happy Place chat marks their first ever podcast appearance, after they announced they were launching their own podcast series, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec.
Now juggling busy lives as fathers to young children, the long-time pals admitted they created the podcast as a way to spend more time together, just like they used to.
The series will be completely unscripted, with no agenda and no interruptions, and will simply see the pair catching up, reminiscing about their decades-long friendship and reflecting on their careers.
Praising his best pal Ant, 50, for being disciplined when it came to putting in the work in his sobriety, Dec admitted that he was less proficient at managing his anxiety (seen in 2018)
Fans will also be encouraged to get involved, with viewers and listeners able to shape the conversation each week, whether that’s asking the duo to relive their most iconic TV moments, seeking advice, or sharing personal anecdotes.
However, the podcast got off to a bad start after Ant and Dec were forced to remove a social media post promoting the show, following criticisms that it was insensitive to suicide.
The video saw the pair pegged to a washing line, and opened with a shot of their shoes and trouser legs dangling above the ground.
Alongside the beginning of the clip, they wrote: ‘Our brand-new podcast Hanging Out With Ant and Dec is launching on Thursday 22nd January,’ followed by an old fashioned microphone and starry eyed emojis.
However, they prompted upset and outrage from their followers who insisted that their clip was ‘in poor taste’ and ‘triggering’.
The video was posted on Friday evening but by 11am on Saturday morning had been removed.
Representatives for Ant and Dec apologised, saying: ‘We did not mean to cause any offence with this promo video and we are sorry if it has upset anyone. We have taken on board the comments and have deleted the video.’
But before it was taken down, the duo, who were outspoken on mental health as part of ITV‘s 2021 campaign Britain Get Talking, were lambasted on the social media platform.
One said: ‘As someone who has lost a close friend to suicide, I get why this can be seen as triggering and insensitive,’ wrote one user.
The duo’s Happy Place chat marks their first ever podcast appearance, after they announced they were launching their own podcast series, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec (seen)
However, the podcast got off to a bad start after Ant and Dec were forced to remove a social media post promoting the show, following criticisms that it was insensitive to suicide
Another said: ‘Who in their right mind would think showing legs dangling as a start of an advertisement is a good idea? It’s been triggering.’
Mental health advocate and former The X Factor contestant Katie Waissel was among those to publicly condemn the video on the platform, calling the imagery ‘entirely foreseeable harm’.
She wrote: ‘I’m going to be blunt because this ‘creative direction’ is genuinely sickening and deeply disappointing.
‘This opening visual of feet suspended above the ground is not a harmless ‘play on words’, it immediately reads as someone hanging, and the suicide imagery is impossible to ignore.
‘Whoever signed this off as a marketing concept either didn’t think for a second about the real-world impact, or simply didn’t care.’
Katie, 39, added that, with a platform of such scale, the presenting duo had a ‘clear duty to act responsibly’.
‘It’s triggering, insensitive, and frankly reckless to push out as ‘entertainment’ when so many families have been devastated by suicide and self-harm,’ she added. ‘You can promote a show without normalising imagery that could genuinely distress people.’
Others echoed her concern, writing: ‘I thought this too, its cinematography to show someone has hanged themselves, without showing the rope.’
While another agreed: ‘Not saying it was on purpose, just saying this was a very ignorant direction from people who should have known a lot better.’
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
