In a podcast appearance, Ant and Dec revealed their anxiety issues, parenthood and their long-running TV careers
Caroline Barry and Mark Jefferies
11:40, 19 Jan 2026Updated 12:16, 19 Jan 2026
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
TV star Declan Donnelly has revealed for the first time about his silent mental health battle. The TV star revealed he has ‘constant anxiety’ and the feeling that he should always be active.
He admitted that he feels he should always be doing something and that he can never ‘sit down.’ Donnelly revealed that he sought therapy around five or six years ago and that he felt it was incredibly beneficial.
The duo opened up during an appearance on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, where he was joined by his co-host and long-time friend, Anthony McPartlin, reports The Mirror.
Ant and Dec, rose to stardom in their teenage years through TV presenting and music. They discussed fatherhood and how they now appreciate their long careers as they have aged.
Donnelly confessed to his mental health journey(Image: Belta Box)
Donnelly confessed to his mental health journey: “I struggle a bit with, it’s kind of a low level, constant anxiety about ‘should be doing this’ or ‘I’ve got 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.
“I struggle with that a lot, with trying to calm that voice in the back of your head that’s going, ‘no, you should be using this time more productively’. I went through a period of having therapy about five, five or six years ago. I really got a lot out of it. I really enjoyed it.”
He shared that after taking a break from therapy, as he tried to book another session, the therapist told him that he couldn’t see him. He said: “He did recommend somebody else and I’ve still got those details, I just haven’t managed to make an appointment yet.”
Donnelly, marking his first-ever appearance on a podcast, said that they take their roles “incredibly seriously”. The Geordie duo, who present ‘I’m a Celebrity’, have fronted multiple primetime entertainment shows throughout the years, including Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and Ant And Dec’s Limitless Win.
Donnelly shared: “When we’re looking at projects, we always look at how can we get the whole family together?”
“To entertain the whole family is no mean feat, and you’ve got to try and grab each generation and entertain them. It’s entertainment, it’s fun, but we take it incredibly seriously.”
The duo also revealed they’re launching their own podcast series together, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, which kicks off later this week.(Image: Belta Box)
McPartlin jumped in: “We do the best job in the world. We have a laugh every day. We’ve hosted some turkeys over the years. It hasn’t always been a success. t’s a privilege to be in someone’s living room on a Saturday night hosting a big show.”
McPartlin admitted he now has to mind his language around his 19-month-old son. “I’m getting told off a lot for swearing in the house,” he confessed.
Donnelly revealed on the podcast that his seven-year-old daughter, Isla, requests to watch I’m Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! but he hesitates as it airs after the watershed. He also mentioned his three-year-old son, Jack, adding: “I’m not sure my kids should be watching my TV show.”
The duo also revealed they’re launching their own podcast series together, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, which kicks off later this week.
In a podcast appearance, Ant and Dec revealed their anxiety issues, parenthood and their long-running TV careers(Image: Belta Box)
“It’s really exciting,” Donnelly explained, revealing they’d actually recorded a pilot for a podcast “about 15 years ago” in a pub, but hadn’t taken it further at the time.
Last week, the pair issued an apology after promoting the new podcast with a video that faced backlash for its “suicide imagery” showing feet dangling above the ground.
In a statement to BBC News, they said: “We did not mean to cause any offence with this promo video and we are sorry if it upset anyone.”