Ant and Dec on moment Madonna ruined their ‘faultless’ BRIT Awards streak

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have opened up on the jaw-dropping moment Madonna took a tumble at the BRIT Awards and the surprising way they found out about the ’embarrassing’ episode.

Appearing on BBC Radio 2’s My Life in a Mixtape, the Geordie duo speak about the now-infamous time they were asked to host the prestigious music ceremony in 2015.

Knowing the raucous and star-studded bash is synonymous with things going wrong, Ant and Dec said they were delighted they’d got by without a hitch then they introduced Madonna’s climatic performance.

Sadly, the Queen of Pop’s eventful finale meant the show went down in history for all the wrong reasons.

Dec recalled: “And that was it, we had sailed the good ship Brits, safely in to the port. We’d done it without any controversy, without any chaos it was all done, it was seamless ladies and gentlemen.”

“We had a little hug, didn’t we? Popped our ear pieces out… Grabbed a glass of champers,” added Ant.

“We walked to our dressing room and were talking to friends and stuff and behind us on the telly was the News at 10. So we thought, ‘Oh let’s watch this,’ so we turned it on.

“Top story: ‘Chaos at the Brits as Madonna takes a tumble’. We were like ‘What?’ We’d missed it all. We’d missed absolutely everything.

“We were quaffing champagne, Madonna took a tumble, the biggest controversy that had been at the Brits for years, we’d hosted it and we hadn’t seen it!”

The TV partners and pals then paid homage to the Queen of Pop by playing her hit Hung Up as part of their mixtape.

The pair have recorded a special edition radio show, to be broadcast this Sunday on Radio 2 between 9 and 10pm, to share the music of their long and illustrious career.

Elsewhere in the broadcast, Ant and Dec remember their first ever night out together.

“A band we did love was the Inspiral Carpets,” said Ant. “We went to see the Inspiral Carpets at the Newcastle Mayfair, do you remember?

“It was a night that cemented our friendship wasn’t it. It was our first date together. So we thought we’d play them.”

The pair then press play in the Oldham band’s 1990 hit So This Is How It Feels To Be Lonely.

Ant and Dec are currently on a mammoth press tour as they promote their new book Once Upon a Tyne, out this week, which details their time in the spotlight from Byker Grove to Britain’s Got Talent.

The pals have already revealed that they almost quit Britain’s Got Talent over head judge Simon Cowell.

Revealing all about the fall out in their new book Dec, 44, explains: “A couple of hours after we arrive at the theatre, we focus on one of the key elements of any BGT audition day: waiting for Simon Cowell to turn up.

“Once we’ve got started on that, we’ll often film interviews with some of that day’s acts, then have a bit of food, then get back to waiting for Simon.”

Simon, who has contributed to the book, added: “They used to have a real issue with me being late and it used to drive them nuts.”

Ant then said: “We’ve still got a real issue with him being late and it still drives us nuts.”

Listen to My Life In A Mixtape with Ant and Dec this Sunday on BBC Radio 2 from 9pm