Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly recall ’embarrassingly’ bumping into King Charles in their dressing gowns before being warned to ‘keep the noise down’ during unlikely royal sleepover

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have recalled their unlikely and ’embarrassing’ royal sleepover with King Charles at his Scottish home Dumfries House.

The TV duo, 50, who were filming a documentary about the then-Prince, said how they accidentally bumped into him in their dressing gowns before later being warned to ‘keep the noise down’ while partying in their room.

Making the revelation during an appearance on Friday’s The Graham Norton Show, Ant laughed: ‘We were following [the then-Prince] for a year for a TV show and got on really well with him.  

‘We were asked if we would like to spend the night at the house ahead of the final interview. We were like “Hell, yes.” It was amazing and everything you’d imagine. 

‘I tried on the robe that was in my room and ran out into the corridor to find Dec and there was the Prince. He said “Hello,” and started talking to me about pruning roses. I was so embarrassed.’

But that wasn’t all, as Dec quipped: ‘We then had wine in the room and got a bit noisy. We took it a bit far and were asked to be quiet!’ 

The TV duo, 50, who were filming a documentary about the future monarch, said how they accidentally bumped into him in their dressing gowns

The duo were then asked about their new podcast Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, which they said they launched as a way of working together amid their busy schedules with their young families. 

Dec said: ‘We both have small kids and live further apart so if a podcast is in the diary, it forces us to get out and get together. We know each other inside out and we make each other laugh so hopefully people will like it.’ 

However he admitted wife Ali Astall and Ant’s wife Anne-Marie Corbett were worried the pair would be too honest on the podcast and ‘give too much away’.

It comes after Dec vowed to get fit this year as he revealed he lasted just eight days off booze in a candid conversation during the podcast’s first episode this week. 

Discussing New Years’ resolutions, the dad-of-two revealed he lasted just eight days before he reached for a glass of wine after his kids went ‘feral’ following their first week back at school.

Dec said: ‘I’ve got to get fit and healthy in 26, hey, it nearly happened. Well, I was doing dry January. The clue to how it’s going was I was doing it. I lasted a week.’

Explaining how his plans were derailed, he continued: ‘I had a very stressful day with the kids. Very stressful day. They’ve been feral since.

‘Since New Year, and they went back to school for that first week of back at school, and I thought, oh, it’s good a bit of discipline and a bit of routine is back in their lives. It’s going to be lovely.

They made the revelation during an appearance on Friday’s The Graham Norton Show, with Ant laughing: ‘We were following [the then-Prince] for a year’

‘We were asked if we would like to spend the night at the house ahead of the final interview   (pictured meeting King Charles in May 2023)

Dec quipped: ‘We then had wine in the room and got a bit noisy. We took it a bit far and were asked to be quiet!’ (Dumfries House pictured) 

‘They were feral all week and then the weekend was a disaster. So I was going to do dry January, in the end, Saturday night, put them to bed and opened up all the wine.’

Ant, 50, had jokingly said: ‘Wow, well, well, well done. I’m proud of you. As someone who’s been sober nearly eight years, I’m very proud of you. I’m proud of your eight days.’

Dec shares two children with his wife Ali; daughter Isla, seven, and son Jack, three. 

Ant then went on to say how his resolution is to improve his vocabulary and limit his swearing as his toddler Wilder, who he shares with wife Anne-Marie, is learning to talk.

Ant explained: ‘Because Wilder is 20 months now and he’s starting to say a lot more words rapidly, day by day. He learned the word bumble the other day, which is good.

‘Which is the name of one of our dogs, but he just came out with it. Bumble, Bumble.

‘But he said that, and I thought, “I’ve really got to curb the swearing.” So I’ve just got to at least improve my vocabulary and think of other ways to discipline him and cuss. So I download an app, which gives you a word every day.’

They appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside (L-R) Claire Foy, Joe Keery and Tinie Tempah

It comes after Dec vowed to get fit this year as he revealed he lasted just eight days off booze in a candid conversation during the podcast’s first episode this week 

Ant said his New Year’s resolution was to improve his vocabulary and limit his swearing as his toddler Wilder, who he shares with wife Anne-Marie Corbett, is learning to talk

Meanwhile, last week Ant and Dec faced backlash from fans over their social media post showing feet suspended in the air to plug their new podcast.

They were forced to pull the trailer after they were accused of being insensitive to suicide. 

It had showed them dangling from the line with the opening image – a shot of shoes and trouser legs dangling above the ground -with their 5.9million followers.

Alongside the beginning of the clip, they wrote: ‘Our brand-new podcast Hanging Out With Ant and Dec is launching on Thursday 22nd January,’ followed by an old fashioned microphone and starry eyed emojis. 

The video was posted on Friday evening but by 11am on Saturday morning had been removed.

Representatives for Ant and Dec, both 50, responded saying: ‘We did not mean to cause any offence with this promo video and we are sorry if it has upset anyone. We have taken on board the comments and have deleted the video.’

The Graham Norton Show will air on BBC One and iPlayer on Friday, January 23 at 11.15pm 

Hanging Out With Ant & Dec is available across all podcast platforms now. Watch the podcast on Spotify and Belta Box.