Ant McPartlin reconnects with estranged dad as they bond after 10 years apart

Ant McPartlin will forever be grateful for the TV show that saw him reconnect with his estranged father.

The presenter – one half of Geordie duo Ant and Dec – hadn’t spoken to his dad Ray in 10 years when researching his family history brought them back together.

It was while filming Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey alongside best pal Dec Donnelly, that Ant finally reached out to his dad.

Ant reflected on his – at times – strained relationship with his dad in his new joint autobiography with Dec, Once Upon A Tyne.

He wrote: “One of the biggest things the show did for me was that it gave me the chance to reconnect with my dad. In 2017, we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for ten years and my relationship with him didn’t really exist.

“But once I started finding stuff out about the paternal side of my family, it felt like the right time to contact him. When a parent leaves and you have a distant, or sometimes non-existent relationship, it means that when you do see them, you can struggle to find common ground, but now I had a whole family history to tell him about, like my great-grandfather, the war hero.”

Ant says he and his dad “bonded” over their family history immediately.

Ray is a big history fan, meaning the show Ant was working on gave them an “immediate and brand-new connection”.

Ant went on: “Me and my dad’s relationship blossomed from there and it’s gone from strength to strength ever since. Without the show, that might never have happened.”

Dec, who sadly lost his dad Alphonsus in 2011, said he wanted to find out more about his ancestry for his daughter Isla, and the rest of his family.

He penned: “My dad used to tell us stories and we’d ask questions, but, like any family, there was only so much you could ever find out, so DNA gave me the chance to fill in some of the gaps – and, of course, go further into our family history than ever before.

“It was incredible for me and Ant to make a show with such purpose – normally, the work we do (and love) is about talent-show winners, turkey testicles or giving away places on the plane, but this was such a rich and complex story, it was unlike anything else we’d ever done.”