Ant McPartlin joined his great pal Declan Donnelly on stage at Sunday night's TV BAFTAs to collect the award for Best Reality Show - alongside Holly Willoughby who did his presenting duties for him on the 2018 I'm a Celebrity show. The trio stood side by side - with Ant a little further away - as Dec revealed it was important to him that Ant came up with him too.
GALLERY: Best dressed at the 2019 BAFTAs
WATCH! The stars arrive at the 2019 BAFTA TVs
Turning to Holly, Dec said: "Thanks for standing in for Ant." He then explained, "Because he is still part of the team and we still wanted him here."
© Photo: RexDec praises Holly for her role
Talking backstage, Dec could not talk more highly of his temporary presenting partner. "Holly came in and did a fantastic job, and she loved it and we loved having her. It had a differently feel to it this year but it was really fun."
He admitted he and Holly were both absolutely terrified about how the show would go but that they quickly got their nerves in control. "It was pretty much during the first show," he said of his realisation that all would be alright. "Because we were both incredibly nervous before we started but we knew we had a great show under our belt and we were just able to go out there and enjoy it."
© Photo: RexAnt stood off to the side to allow Holly and Dec to take the glory
Whether Holly would ever put her jungle boots back and and join him again down under on the hit show was another question. "That's kind of down to her," he said. "She was fantastic out there. She's made it clear that she sees it as a one year thing, so I don't think she'll be back this year - but you never know!"
PICS: 2019's stunning thigh-high split dresses
And the former Biker Grove star explained there was never a moment that he considered not doing the 2018 series, even without Ant. "It was always going to go ahead. We loved doing the show, the audience love the show so it would have been a shame to not have the show for a year. It was all about who to partner with - Holly was my first choice and thankfully she said yes. It took me 5 minutes to say who I wanted, and because we were old mates i knew she'd be a dead safe pair of hands and be fun to be beside."
