Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have made a few enemies in their day (Picture: ITV)
Comedy legend Kathy Burke isn’t the only one who hasn’t minced her words when it comes to Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.
The Gimme Gimme icon caused a stir as she told Seann Walsh exactly how she felt about the inclusion of controversial politicians in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
‘Well, it was a step too far having [Matt] Hancock in there I felt but I thought I’d watch it anyway,’ she told him on her podcast.
‘But when they announced Farage I just thought, you f***ing arseholes. And I was really angry with Ant and Dec. They’re Irish descent, man!’
She explained she felt it was unfair to the other campmates but she’s not alone in her anger at the dynamic duo as over the years they’ve had a fair few feuds.
From Joe Swash to Piers Morgan, Ant and Dec aren’t as popular as you might think.
Kathy Burke admitted she’s ‘very angry’ with the duo (Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
Kelly Brook’s bitter Britain’s Got Talent exit
Starting strong is this spat which broke out when Kelly Brook left Britain’s Got Talent after a short judges stint in 2009, lasting just one week.
Her swift exit was put down to the producers not liking the four judge panel format — only to reintroduce it two series later.
The 44-year-old model quickly revealed she felt Ant & Dec simply didn’t like her and hinted at arguments backstage which ended up getting her removed from the show.
Around that time, Kelly called them ‘two-faced’ and said they had ‘ruined her career’.
She told the Standard in 2012: ‘The people at ITV were telling me that I had upset Ant and Dec and that was it. I would love to have stayed on the show. I really felt it was working out.
Kelly Brook has been at odds with the duo since 2009 (Picture: Neil Mockford/Getty Images)
‘Ant and Dec had never been anything but pleasant to my face but, clearly, they didn’t want me on the show. Their egos are such that they were saying to themselves: “How dare she think she can come on to our show?”, and since then they’ve been very vocal about their displeasure at me being there.’
The duo dubbed her ‘wrong from the start’ in their autobiography, adding they were ‘angry about Kelly’.
They later told Metro that a row backstage was ‘certainly not the case’ but noted that she would never return to the show.
‘There is certainly no bad blood form our side,’ Dec added and in subsequent years both sides have steered clear of each other.
However, last year she told the Express she would never go on I’m A Celeb as she doesn’t like spiders, enclosed spaces and she’s ‘not a fan of Ant and Dec, and they just do what they do, don’t they?’
Joe Swash and Ant McPartlin kiss and make up
Bizarre rumours of a feud erupted between Joe Swash and the Saturday Night Takeaway presenters after interactions seemed quite tense on a 2017 episode of Extra Camp.
Joe, who had won I’m A Celeb a decade prior, looked a little off during an exchange as Ant shouted out ‘come on Joe, do something’ after noticing he was quiet.
Joe Swash had an awkward exchange with Ant on Extra Camp (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
‘I can’t think of anything,’ responded the 42-year-old star as viewers speculated about some sort of fall out behind the scenes.
He offered some insight to the discussion, only to be shot down by the Geordie who quipped: ‘That’s kind of what Dec said before but with more words.’
Visibly irate, Joe responded: ‘Sometimes it’s nice to add more words’ to which Ant hit back: ‘Not when they’re nonsense Joe.’
In an attempt to quash rumours, the Eastenders star returned to the show and made a joke that it was simply sexual tension instead.
Joe said: ‘No I just think there’s a fine line between not liking someone and finding them very horny.’
‘That’s what I am, sexually attracted to you Joe,’ Ant replied in playful but slightly off interaction which culminated in the Byker Grove star offering a hug to smooth things over, with Joe leaning in for a kiss.
Fans speculated there was a behind the scenes fall out (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
He was forcefully rebuffed by Ant, who pushed him on the sofa and declared he wasn’t going to kiss him and added: ‘His arse hangs out, his crack’s showing, he’s disgusting. You push it too far sometimes.’
‘Just kiss me man!’ Joe quipped as Ant replied: ‘Why would I want to kiss you?’.
In an awkward end, the Extra Camp presenter shouted: ‘Because you embarrass me in front of the nation!’
Katie Price’s PTSD response
Never far from drama, of course I’m A Celeb icon Katie Price has had some disagreements with the hosts in her time.
The 45-year-old model had apparently tried to seduce Dec at the wrap party for series three of the popular ITV show, but he managed to dodge her all evening.
Ant wrote in their book: ‘He managed to avoid her all night, but her mum did corner him a couple of times and try to set him up with her. He wasn’t having any of it.’
Katie did find love rather famously with Peter Andre instead so this isn’t actually what sparked the feud.
Katie Price hit out at the pair’s frivolous use of PTSD (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Instead it was their comments about PTSD which upset the Mucky Mansion star, who was formally diagnosed in 2018 after traumatic events in her life, including being raped.
In 2022, they made a joke they experience the psychological disorder whenever Lets Get Ready to Rhumble plays, which was met with backlash for ‘trivialising’ PTSD.
Katie shared clapping emoji over an open letter made by Jacqui Suttie — founder of PTSD UK — to the comedy duo.
It read: ‘Using PTSD as a punchline in a joke not only further stigmatises the reality of the condition, but it also incorrectly and unhelpfully desensitises people to the debilitating symptoms that can lead to family problems, unemployment, physical health issues, self-harm, homelessness, alcohol and drug addiction, and ultimately suicide.
She was diagnosed in 2018 after traumatic events (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
‘Jokes like this, using PTSD as part of the gag is only one in a long line of examples where people are using PTSD in a really disrespectful way – but feel that as the leaders of the mental health campaign ‘Britain Get Talking’, you should be setting an example and so feel that ITV has a duty of care to its viewers which includes comments like this which are not only unnecessary, but can also be incredibly damaging to those affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.’
Chris Packham’s animal welfare gripe
‘A grotesque blob’ on Ant and Dec’s shining reputations and career is what Chris Packham declared I’m A Celeb.
The 63-year-old naturalist shared an open letter denouncing the reality show for the use of animals, which are thrown into trials with often terrified famous faces.
In protest of last year’s series, Chris wrote on X: ‘Its continued exploitation of animals for entertainment is an anachronistic embarrassment and betrays a dangerous disconnect between a world increasingly concerned with an environmental crisis.
‘But I can tell you that last year, [the RSPCA] received 17,000 complaints about your wilful abuse of animals and the reinforcement of negative stereotypes.’
Chris Packham has written open letters to the duo (Picture: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)
Chris is the president of the Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and has written to the presenters on multiple occasions on this issue.
He continued: ‘In 2019, I asked you [Dec] to please think about how your daughter will perceive your actions as she grows into a world increasingly devoid of wildlife. What did she say?
‘What is she saying now, aware I’m sure that her future is seriously imperilled by climate breakdown and biodiversity loss?’
The presenters have not responded personally to the nature photographer’s pleas, although ITV has acknowledged the animal welfare concerns and has protocols in place.
Piers Morgan ‘sick and tired’ of the duo
The ultimate feud for Ant and Dec is the long-running and slightly tongue-in-cheek disagreement with Piers Morgan, 59.
When the pair 20th consecutive Best Presenter award at the 2021 National Television Awards, the controversial presenter had a lot to say.
He ranted: ‘I deserve to win because everyone is sick and tired of Ant and Dec automatically winning this award, which bears no relation to reality. They’ve done nothing special in the last year, even they would admit that.’
Piers Morgan and the Geordies have an ongoing playful feud (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
Ahead of the win, on the red carpet they joked: ‘Piers? Who? Piers who? Is he the guy who used to be on TV? Yeah, think we remember him!’
Piers went so far as to call them ‘little vain-glorious Geordies’ and added that Ant ‘hadn’t even worked’ that year for good measure.
The duo went on to win the Bafta for Best Entertainment for their show Saturday Night Takeaway, reigniting their rival’s annoyance.
Undeterred, Ant then declared it was ‘great’ that Piers was so furious at their win and in 2022 poked fun at Uncensored and said more people were watching their Instagram live than his show.
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