A vintage clip from 1988 captures 12-year-old Ant McPartlin confidently demonstrating how to create ‘Sweet Fried Eggs’ on the BBC children’s program Why Don’t You…?. The ITV presenter, now 50, showcased early on-camera skills without his longtime partner Declan Donnelly, with whom he teamed up the following year on Byker Grove.
Throwback Recipe Demo
In the footage, a young Ant sports an oversized sweatshirt emblazoned with his name. Positioned at a table with ingredients ready, he guides viewers through the egg-free treat.
He explains: ‘This is a recipe for Sweet Fried Eggs, and the funny thing is, it has nothing to do with eggs. What you do is get your slices of Swiss Rolls and then put marmalade on—dollop it on top like that. You’re supposed to use jam, but I don’t like it.’
Continuing enthusiastically, he adds whipped cream: ‘Then put your cream, which is my best bit—go mad with it. Then get your giant peach, which is the yellow of the egg, and add it on top. And then you can add some more cream if you want. There you have it—that’s your sweet fried egg. I’m eating mine now.’
The segment highlights viewer-submitted games and recipes, marking Ant’s early steps in television.
Recent Culinary Adventures
Ant has revisited the kitchen lately, co-hosting the digital series Taste Mates with Dec. The pair prepare fun dishes and share reviews, blending entertainment with cooking.
Fatherhood Reflections
Ant and Dec recently opened up about parenthood on their podcast Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, expressing wishes for earlier and larger families.
Dec shares: ‘It’s the best thing ever. I wish I’d done it earlier and I wish I’d had ten,’ before adding with a laugh, ‘maybe not ten. Maybe three.’
Ant concurs: ‘I’ve got three and I’d have more. It is the best, the absolute best being a dad. And I was lucky enough to be stepdad to my girls a few years before my son was born. So, I feel like I had a really great introduction to fatherhood because I got to be able to talk to them straight away. We could go out and the feedback was immediate.’
He continues: ‘And then when Wilder came along, I got to do all of the baby and toddler stuff that I didn’t get to do with the girls. So, I’ve had the best of both worlds really. It changes you for the better. All of the sleepless nights, the early mornings, the tiredness is worth it. It’s the greatest thing I think you can do. It far surpasses anything that we’ve achieved in our career.’
Dec echoes: ‘Our biggest achievement. Of everything we’ve done professionally, it’s the thing that I think we’ve got the most satisfaction from. When they first come along, you don’t realise how much they change your life, but for the better, the absolute better. And it’s almost like when they do come along, you’ve discovered the meaning of life.’
He reflects further: ‘For me, I was lucky enough to have two, a girl and a boy. I was a bit worried before Jack came along because I thought, “God, am I ever going to be able to love him as much as I love Isla?” Do I have to half my love to both of them? Do they both get half of my love? Because she’s got it all at the moment. And then he came along and you realise then, oh no, you don’t half anything. You get double the love. You reach another level within you that you just find more love for this other little thing.’
Ant welcomed son Wilder in May 2024 with wife Anne-Marie Corbett, 47, and serves as stepfather to her two teenage daughters. Dec, 50, and wife Ali Astall, 47, have daughter Isla, 7, and son Jack, 3.
