Ant McPartlin leaves Declan Donnelly in hysterics as he attempts banana eating World Record

Ant McPartlin surprised pal Declan Donnelly during the latest episode of their new podcast with the news that he’d be attempting a banana eating world record. 

Guinness Book of Records super fan Dec, 50, was left in hysterics when he learned that Ant, also 50, would be speed eating there and then in front of an official adjudicator.

In a clip from Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, which is released on Monday, the duo appeared in their element as Guinness Book of Records’ Will revealed the rules.

He said: ‘The current record to beat is eight bananas in one minute and you have to show me your mouth after every banana’.

To which Ant quipped: ‘It’s like I’m A Celebrity!’ and as he lined up the fruit, Dec strained his neck from laughing so hard. 

Realising he had to so many bananas in less than a minute, Ant began to show his nerves and said he was sweating before claiming his throat was becoming ‘constricted’.

Does he break the World Record? Fans will have to tune in to the podcast on Monday February 2 to find out. 

Ant & Dec launched their very first podcast earlier this month with new episodes every Thursday, as well as additional Mystery Door episodes available every Monday. 

It comes after the pair said they almost quit Britain’s Got Talent following a series of backstage disputes – among them Simon Cowell’s persistent lateness.

The presenting partners will return for the show’s nineteenth series in February, when resident judges Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and KSI scour the country for emerging talent. 

But it could have been very different for the presenters had make-or-break discussions with Cowell worked against them after they grew disillusioned with their diminishing roles on the show in 2012. 

Appearing on the latest instalment of Stick To Football, the pair admitted they flew to the United States for a face-to-face meeting with the head judge at a stage where ‘he was always late and going through this period where he would never turn up on time’.

‘He’s a really charming bloke with a great sense of humour,’ said Ant. ‘He’s funny, generous and we get on well with him. We’ve always kind of had a good relationship with him because we’re quite honest with him and I think he appreciates that. 

Dec added: ‘We’ve been annoyed at him a few times over the years. We went to LA to see him to tell him we were going to leave Britain’s Got Talent because we weren’t having a very nice time.

‘We were in the show less and less, it’s a taking up a lot of our time, we’re not really in the show, we might as well leave and put our energies elsewhere. 

‘He went, “Oh well, no you can’t leave and I’ll turn up on time, and we’ll make sure that you’re featured more and that you’ll have more fun with it.” 

‘So we sat there having lunch and he went, “I can’t believe you were thinking of leaving,” and he leaned over in the restaurant in the middle of LA and started tickling me going, “You will never leave me.”‘

The presenting duo previously touched on their meeting with Cowell in 2020 autobiography, Once Upon A Tyne. 

‘We let him have it with both barrels,’ Ant recalled. ‘We told him everything – that we weren’t being used, that we could be doing other stuff, that maybe someone else should take over.

‘To be fair to Simon, he sat there, took it all and listened intently for four, maybe five cigarettes.’ 

Donnelly added: ‘He made a promise to us, that things would change and that we’d never feel like that again.

‘He desperately wanted us to stay and we told him we’d do the next series and see how it went – and, to be fair to him, he was as good as his word, things did change.’

Does he break the World Record? – Tune into the podcast on Monday to find out — wherever you listen or watch from 8am on the episode on the Belta Box YouTube Channel

Hanging Out With Ant & Dec: Mystery Door Episode is available across all podcast platforms from Monday 2nd February