Declan Donnelly: Britain’s Got Talent host gives glimpse into family life as he shares update about daughter

Dec and his wife Ali Astall welcomed their first child in September 2018.
Declan DonnellyDeclan Donnelly
Declan Donnelly

Declan Donelly has given fans a rare insight into his life as a father.

The TV host, 47, from Newcastle, briefly mentioned his three-year-old daughter during Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway: Behind The Scenes documentary.

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As Dec and co-star Ant Mcpartlin appeared backstage to prepare for the ‘End of the Show’, the camera panned to Dec, who was dressed in a sparkly blue costume, similar to the one worn by Elsa in the Disney film Frozen.

Dec joked: "This is how I came to work. I’m a big fan of Frozen, so this is my own outfit. I don’t know what they’ve got for me in costume."

He then admitted: "I know the movie quite well. My daughter is four years old now, so she is right in prime Elsa territory.

"When I told her this morning I was going to work to see Elsa, it kind of blew her tiny mind."

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Dec and his Australian wife, Ali Astall, welcomed their daughter Isla back in September 2018. The couple, who married in 2015, are also parents to Jack, who arrived in July 2022.

Dec previously opened up about becoming a father for the first time in his joint autobiography with Ant.

"At first, like all expectant parents, I didn’t truly understand how much it was going to change me," he wrote.

"I just thought it was another little person coming to live in the house. It opened up a whole other side to me, a side I didn’t know existed.

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"I felt a love that I didn’t realise it was possible to feel. Everything I do, every day, is for my daughter now."

TV-presenting duo Ant and Dec are set to return for the 16th series of Britain’s Got Talent along with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon.

They have recently discussed how they pranked new Britains Got Talent judge Bruno Tonioli ahead of the new series.

“We, quite mischievously, kept telling him different rules,” Dec Donnelly said in an interview.

Bruno has replaced David Walliams, who was forced to step down after 10 years of being on the judging team.

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