Ant and Dec leave fans momentarily distraught as April Fools’ prank backfires

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly left fans feeling momentarily distraught after sharing some revelatory “news”. “After 30 long years together we’ve decided a change is needed, and so without further ado, we can announce we’ll now be officially known as Dec & Ant.” While this was their idea of an April Fools’ joke, many fans were left devastated upon reading the opening of the statement believing they were about to announce they were parting ways. “This didn’t even have the desired effect on me because I thought it was a goodbye tweet, thought you were saying you had enough!” one relieved fan wrote, with another stating: “When I tell you my heart rate dropped whilst reading the first half of that caption.” Another added: “When I read that ‘change is needed’, I got a mini heart attack thinking that you’re doing something even more horrible.” Doubling down on the prank, the pair released hilarious statements reflecting on the name change. such as stamp collecting and medieval battle reenactments.” The pair were most recently seen presenting Saturday Night Takeaway, which was watched on average by eight million viewers a week.