{"id":332,"date":"2025-01-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/?p=332"},"modified":"2025-02-26T18:31:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T18:31:22","slug":"ant-and-dec-theres-a-plan-to-bring-back-the-drag-queens-we-loved-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/ant-and-dec-theres-a-plan-to-bring-back-the-drag-queens-we-loved-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Ant and Dec: \u2018There\u2019s a plan to bring back the drag queens \u2013 we loved it\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Ant\t<\/div>
Performing as drag queens meant more to the community than than Ant and Dec realised (Picture: ITV)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I think we realised it was a statement to a degree, but I don’t think we realised how big a statement it was until afterwards,\u2019\u00a0Declan Donnelly<\/a> – one half of\u00a0Ant\u00a0and\u00a0Dec<\/a> \u2013\u00a0tells me as we meet in their dressing room. <\/p>\n

Ant McPartlin<\/a> and his teammate of the last 30 years, Dec, are without a doubt the country\u2019s most cherished and valued presenters. Everything they touch brings in millions of viewers, they\u2019re easily the safest bet for success \u2013 but they haven\u2019t earned their unbroken record of 24 NTAs for best presenter by avoiding risks. Even when they didn\u2019t know how big a risk they were taking.<\/p>\n

The statement Dec is referring to took many by surprise. <\/p>\n

On February 19, 2022, at the end of an episode of Saturday Night Takeaway<\/a>, And and Dec introduced Lady Antionette and Miss Donna Lee to viewers \u2013 their new drag queen personas.<\/p>\n

For the LGBTQ+<\/a> community, it was a big deal \u2013 much bigger than they knew. Even two years on over the Christmas<\/a> period, just the appearance of any drag queen on mainstream television sparked enough complaints to be trending across social media – mainly X.<\/p>\n

When trans people, drag queens and the LGBTQ+ community are being scrutinised beyond the realms of rationality and common sense, Ant and Dec celebrated it with such authenticity and care that it meant the world. They essentially said, \u2018we\u2019ve got your back\u2019 when it felt braver than it should to say so.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Ant\t<\/div>
Lady Antionette and Miss Donna Lee could make a comeback (Picture: ITV\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inevitably, they were hit with Ofcom<\/a> complaints. One critic wrote on X \u2013 then Twitter: \u2018This is totally inappropriate for a family entertainment show #SaturdayNightTakeaway.\u2019<\/p>\n

And they weren\u2019t alone. Hundreds echoed the same sentiment.<\/p>\n

But it became one of the most important things Ant and Dec had ever done.<\/p>\n

Ants says: \u2018The people stopping you and talking to us about it afterwards was huge – more so than any other end of the show-show.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It meant more than we realised,\u2019 Dec agrees.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve always had a good relationship with the community, and even back in the days of PJ and Duncan playing G-A-Y, we always loved doing that. But we definitely felt a real sense of appreciation after we did the drag, especially from younger people just saying that meant such a lot.\u2019<\/p>\n

It meant so much, they\u2019ve been in serious talks to step into those heels again.<\/p>\n

When the mention of Mighty Hoopla, London’s biggest celebration of queer culture, comes up, their representative who conveniently happens to also represent the Brixton festival, chimes in: \u2018We have talked about it. I\u2019ve been working on a plan\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The plan was to bring the girls back,\u2019 Dec confirmed. \u2018Miss Donna Lee and Lady Antionette to do Mighty Hoopla. And we’re like, \u201cit took us four in hours to get into that.\u201d I’ve got a new found respect for anybody in high heels.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

I loved it – I instantly looked 20 years younger<\/p>\n

Quote<\/title><title>Quote<\/title><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ant seems keener. \u2018Oh, I loved it. I loved the that makeup artist Raven (RuPaul\u2019s personal make-up artist) did my make-up and I instantly looked 20 years younger.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It’s tough though, it’s a skill so we had to put rehearsals into it, a lot of time and effort. We wanted to come up with personas and all of it – you can’t just whack on a frock and think suddenly you’re a drag artist. We learned a lot that week.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ant and Dec have built a brand by being deadly unserious on camera, but don\u2019t be fooled \u2013 they are the tour de force of television. They\u2019ve built their empire through cheeky grins and incredible foresight as the country\u2019s favourite presenters but also as two of the most innovative brains in television.<\/p>\n<p>Their production company Mitre is behind ITV\u2019s DNA Journey, the revamped In For A Penny, Saturday Night Takeaway and their latest huge success, Limitless Win. Their track record of success is second to none. <\/p>\n<p>One theme that runs through all of Ant and Dec\u2019s shows is ambition and scope like no other, be it the biggest variety show of all time (BGT), finding Britain\u2019s biggest pop star (Pop Idol) or being the first to throw celebrities into a jungle and feed them kangaroo testicles (I\u2019m A Celebrity).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"425\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SEI_234620913-b293.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22273310\" alt=\"Ant and Dec present Limitless Win\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Ant and Dec return for the fourth series of Limitless Win on Saturday night (Credits: ITV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Limitless Win follows the trend. It’s exactly the adrenaline-pumping game show needed to brighten a miserable January and returns this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Its stakes can be higher than any other game show ever televised in Britain, with a skies-the-limit jackpot capable of bankrupting ITV. Contestants climb a money ladder by tackling difficult but everyday questions where the answer will always be a number such as \u2018how many pieces are in a chocolate orange?\u2019 (It\u2019s 20).<\/p>\n<p>Ant says: \u2018I’d be lying if ITV didn\u2019t say they were nervous but we’re on the side of the contestant, we want them to go as high as possible. Part of you as the host of the show we want to give away the most TV show ever given away in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Last year the show gave away \u00a31.75million, including \u00a31million for one couple alone. Does anyone have the nerve to walk away with even more money this series?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You have to tune in,\u2019 Dec smirks. \u2018I can say that we get further up the ladder than we’ve ever been. On two occasions, we\u2019re up right up there in seven figures.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>By their own admission, it\u2019s the perfect game show when \u2018you don\u2019t have to be very clever\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"435\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SEI_234620983-d437.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22273305\" alt=\"Ant and Dec present Limitless Win with two contestants\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Limitless Win contestants have the opportunity to win millions (Picture: ITV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018There is a huge portion of the audience who are never going to become a millionaire on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, because none of us know those questions,\u2019 says Ant. \u2018But on this, you never know, and it’s important that the whole family can play along.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s essentially the magic behind all of their shows, they\u2019re just fun and don\u2019t try to be anything else. There\u2019s a place for Mastermind and Dec laughs: \u2018That\u2019s not our place.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the fun factor which is partly why Limitless Win is following perhaps the best series of I\u2019m A Celebrity for a long time after years when the enjoyment was eclipsed by backlash towards two of the most loathed politicians in the UK, Nigel Farage and Matt Hancock.<\/p>\n<p>Hancock was looking for redemption, and probably feels like he got it after coming in third place. Farage was reportedly the highest-paid contestant ever at the time but no doubt he saw it as his chance to engage with the public on the biggest platform possible. <\/p>\n<p>Ratings dipped, I\u2019m A Celebrity was scrutinised like never before and partly blamed for the resurgence of Farage who managed to win a seat in parliament in the 2024 general election for the first time after eight attempts.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SEI_232527355-e9bb.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22166997\" alt=\"Ant and Dec with I'm A Celebrity winner Danny Jones\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>I’m A Celebrity returned with its strongest series in years (Picture: ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I\u2019m A Celebrity needed a reset and the boys asked for one.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was quite polarising and skewed the series a little bit,’ Dec says.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was halfway through last year, and we spoke to producers and said, “Next year let’s do a series without any politicians, let’s just get it back to how it was, and let’s see how it feels to do that.” And they were like, “Yeah, okay.” They were completely on board with that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>And it worked. I\u2019m A Celebrity was completely revitalised with its best ever cast, boasting the likes of Coleen Rooney, Tulisa Contostavlos, Reverend Richard Coles and Oti Mabuse \u2013 all incredibly likeable characters with fascinating lives.<\/p>\n<p>Or as Ant puts it bluntly: \u2018There were no dullards.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In previous years we\u2019d get four or five days into it and you go, “Oh, my God, there’s been no argument.”  And this year, I didn’t want them to argue,’ says Dec.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It’s a new generation of audience coming through, who love I\u2019m A Celebrity, which is incredible. That’s series 24 and for so many people to say to us that it’s been their favourite series for a number of years, it\u2019s incredible.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>As a millennial whose weekend revolved around Ant and Dec, even at 37 it\u2019s oddly confronting hearing about new generations discovering their shows now.<\/p>\n<p>They were such an integral part of childhoods in the late 90s and 00s and they\u2019ve hardly been off-screen ever since.<\/p>\n<p>But for much younger audience, they\u2019ve never experienced anything like the special bond between Ant and Dec to wake up to on Saturday mornings. They\u2019re often glued to an iPad, in their own world.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"445\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/PRI_164591150-66b9.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22273323\" alt=\"Ant and Dec with Cat Deeley\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Saturday morning television has never been better than SM:TV (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SM:TV was a stroke of genius, absolute chaos but it never missed a beat and if it did that was part of its charm. When Live and Kicking was for kids and kids alone, Ant, Dec and Cat Deeley took children\u2019s television to an entirely new league. Like their most successful shows now, it was TV for the whole family to wake up to.<\/p>\n<p>Of their extensive back catalogue, it\u2019s the show Ant is most keen to bring back, with new talent at the helm.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I don’t think we could host it now, we’d have to let a younger generation do it. We feel passionately that those kind of Saturday morning TV shows on terrestrial telly are important to kids, as important now as when we were growing up. It’s where you see your music, it’s where you see all your cultural references, it’s where you are informed about what other kids like to watch and see and so you feel like you should become a fan too.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It would be great if somebody bucked the trend of cooking shows.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>I mention that I\u2019m personally gunning for a Pop Idol revival.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"421\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SEI_234621054-1d5e.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22273303\" alt=\"Ant and Dec with Will Young and Gareth Gates on Pop Idol\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Pop Idol launched the career of Will Young and was watched by more than 13million viewers (Picture: Fremantle Media\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I think music is desperate for something like that too,\u2019 says Dec. ‘The music industry needs an artist to come through that everybody can get behind. I think the music industry needs it and I think telly needs it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For now though, they have big plans in the pipeline. Despite the most successful careers in television, perhaps of anyone in the UK ever, they still have a few boxes left to tick off.<\/p>\n<p>They look at each other with their signature mischief though when asked what they might be.<\/p>\n<p>Ant anxiously explains: \u2018We’ll be spending a lot more time developing things for us and for other people. I don’t want to give too much away because there are definitely certain things…\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Dec interrupts: \u2018That\u2019s a good answer just there\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n<p>One milestone they can\u2019t keep a secret though is their next birthdays. Somehow Ant and Dec will be 50 in 2025 but they have very different approaches ahead of turning the big 5-0.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I’m alright with it,\u2019 Ant shrugs.  \u2018I’m pleased I’m still around and we’re still enjoying what we do, and have lovely families and loving kids. I’m very grateful.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You on the other hand…\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Dec winces at the mention of 50.  \u2018I had a bit of a mini meltdown turning 30, and then I was better turning 40,\u2019 he says, but soon comes around.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I remember waking up on my 30th birthday and going, “Oh, I’m exactly the same. Nothing’s changed.” So I was kind of a much more accepting of turning 40 and then 50 am, like, whatever. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Maybe that is where we are now, we’re settled, I remember waking up on my 30th birthday and kind of open a morning and go, “Oh, I’m exactly the same. Nothing’s changed.” So I’m alright with it, got a couple of kids, I’m actually having a really nice time.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I’m loving what we’re doing. I’m loving work, really enjoying work, really enjoying my home life. So I’m alright with it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>But in agreement, they add: \u2018Ask us again next August\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Limitless Win returns Saturday at 8.30pm with another episode following Sunday at 8pm on ITV.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Performing as drag queens meant more to the community than than Ant and Dec realised (Picture: ITV) \u2018I think we realised it was a statement to a degree, but I<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/ant-and-dec-theres-a-plan-to-bring-back-the-drag-queens-we-loved-it\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ant and Dec: \u2018There\u2019s a plan to bring back the drag queens \u2013 we loved it\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}