Ant and Dec announce new project after leaving Saturday Night Takeaway

Ant and Dec have announced some very exciting news - and we can’t wait! Taking to their Twitter account with a new video, the cheeky presenting duo revealed that they would be going back to where it all started - by rebooting Byker Grove!

Smiling to the camera, Dec said: "Ant and Dec here with some pretty exciting news that we wanted to share with you," to which Ant replied: "Don’t you mean PJ and Duncan are here with some pretty exciting news? A little clue there!" 

Dec continued: "Yes, you could say that! Don’t worry, we’re not making another album! 17 years after it closed it’s doors, Byker Grove is opening them up again," with Ant interjecting: "Yes! We’ve teamed up with clever telly people… to reboot the 90s TV classic, bringing it back for a whole new audience as well as those old enough to remember it so fondly." 

© Rex

Speaking about how the pair rose to popularity with their roles as besties PJ and Duncan on the show, Dec continued: "It’s obviously a show very close to our hearts so we couldn’t be more excited to give it a new lease of life. Once again it’ll follow a new generation of young people and their families and they navigate the challenges they face today in the 2020s!" 

Fans were loving the announcement, with one tweeting: "Oh. My. Actual. GOD!!!!!!! PJ & Duncan have to be the new Grove Leaders!!! (I can just see you both with a Geoff style 'tash!)" Another person added: "This is amazing news for both on and off-screen talent in the North East. Working on the original Byker Grove series were some of the best days of my career!" 

A third person posted: "MG!! You’re beyond excited! I’m beyond excited !! Fave show ever when I was young lol!! Ooh Byker byker, Byker Grove!!" 

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The hit show, which launched on ITV in 1989 and ran for nearly two decades before concluding in 2006, followed the trials and tribulations of a youth group in Newcastle, and had some serious soap opera moments - including Ant’s character PJ being blinded in a paintballing accident. 

It was also where Ant and Dec first met one another, with Ant previously joking: "I don't really remember you being there. You weren't really on my radar." Despite the two not initially clicking, they became firm friends, with Ant explaining: "If it wasn't for Byker Grove we wouldn't be where we are today. We kind of owe everything to Byker Grove. It’s where we learnt to do what we do."