Fans of Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly can rejoice! The telly double act are working on a brand new show that is due to air this autumn. The 90-minute genealogy programme, titled Ant & Dec's DNA Journey, was shelved last year after Ant took time off work following his drink-driving arrest. But it sounds like filming is back on track with a release date slated for this year.
ITV's director of television Kevin Lygo said: "We had to stop filming as they hadn't quite finished it, but I've seen the first part and it's absolutely brilliant. They've got a bit of filming to do to finish it and it should go out late in the autumn – it will be a big thing. We test their DNA and they go back and find relatives they didn't know about. The DNA profiling is so accurate and detailed."
Kevin added: "There's a village in Ireland where you have relatives just two generations back. Ant and Dec are brilliant together and they don't know the story so it's revealed as it happens. They go into a room with relatives they've never seen."
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The show was put on the back burner last year after Ant, 43, was arrested and charged with drink-driving following an accident in Richmond. Scenes which were filmed in Ireland were said to have shown Ant drinking in a pub, which will have proved controversial considering his arrest.
© Photo: Getty ImagesAnt & Dec's DNA Journey is expected to air in the autumn
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The one-off programme will see Ant and Dec use science and technology to trace their relatives. The pair send off saliva samples to laboratories for their DNA to be analysed. Last year, when plans for the show were announced, Ant and Dec said: "Tracing our ancestors using pioneering DNA methods has been a fascinating and emotional process so far.
"We have discovered some amazing things which have shocked and surprised us and we still have hundreds of years to uncover! We are looking forward to sharing our journey with the audience."
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