Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are to host the Brit awards – 14 years after they last fronted the music event for ITV.
The Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway presenters succeed James Corden, who stepped down after hosting the event for four years running, including the infamous moment in 2012 when he interrupted Adele during her winner’s speech.
The show could do with some of Ant and Dec’s ratings magic after the audience collapsed last year with the lowest figures since 2006, with just 4.6 million watching on ITV.
When the Geordie pair previously hosted the Brits in 2001, the show pulled in an average audience 4 million higher than last year’s show.
There has been much speculation about who would take over from Corden, with ITV executives already said to have been keen on having more than one presenter. Artist Tracey Emin will design the trophy for the ceremony.
Ant and Dec, who will present the show from the O2 Arena in London on 25 February next year, achieved their own chart-topping hit last year when Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble went to number one, 19 years after they first released it during their pop career as PJ & Duncan.
They said: “We’re really excited to be hosting the Brits again next year - it is undoubtedly the biggest night in the British music calendar.
“We’re especially excited now we’re number one recording artists ourselves. We’ll be offering our advice to the fledgling pop stars backstage as to how to have a number one hit, as long as they’re prepared to wait 19 years for their records to top the chart like ours did.”
The pair are also experienced as hosts of music shows having presented Pop Idol from 2001, as well as ITV Saturday morning show CD:UK with Cat Deeley, who also went on to be a Brits host in 2004.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that ITV has sold the format to Ant and Dec’s hit Saturday Night Takeaway to US broadcaster NBC, with Neil Patrick Harris to host the US version.
Brits chairman Max Lousada said: “Ant and Dec are two of the most popular TV broadcasters this country has ever produced and it’s a real honour to have them take centre stage once again to host the Brits. It’s great that these two pillars of British TV will be part of a night about celebrating icons in British music.”
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