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What Little Ant and Dec look like 20 years after Saturday Night Takeaway fame
Home>News>UK News
Updated 13:10 1 Jun 2026 GMT+1Published 10:09 31 May 2026 GMT+1

What Little Ant and Dec look like 20 years after Saturday Night Takeaway fame

The pair have very different lives since their days of interviewing A-listers like Will Smith and David Beckham on the show

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

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Little Ant and Dec, who were just nine years old when they made their Saturday Night Takeaway debut, are now in their late 20s and look totally unrecognisable.

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly's smash-hit ITV variety show, which spanned 20 years and 22 series, aired its final episode back in 2024.

A big part of it was Little Ant and Dec, the child counterparts of the iconic TV hosts who would sometimes appear on the show.

And now new pictures show just how much the pair have changed in the years since appearing on the show.

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The duo included James Pallister as Little Ant, and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw as Little Dec.

And the pair were very involved in the show as well, interviewing some very famous faces during their tenure.

Little Ant (James Pallister) and Little Dec (Dylan McKenna-Redshaw) looked like on the show (ITV)
Little Ant (James Pallister) and Little Dec (Dylan McKenna-Redshaw) looked like on the show (ITV)

These included Will Smith, David Beckham, Katie Price, and even Tony Blair.

Some of the antics in their segment on the show also included trying to recruit Brooklyn Beckham to their favourite football team, getting Ewan McGregor to teach them the bagpipes, and persuading Hugh Grant to don a pair of comically large false ears.

They were on the show from 2003 until 2006, when the pair returned to their education and continued on with their lives.

The decision was reportedly taken to cut the Little Ant and Dec segment after the pair went through a growth spurt.

Little Ant and Dec interviewing George Clooney (ITV)
Little Ant and Dec interviewing George Clooney (ITV)

Little Ant and Dec did return to the show, though seven years later in 2013.

However, you've probably guessed that by this point James and Dylan were not so little anymore, so the pair were recast, with Neil Overend and Haydn Reid taking on the roles when they returned.

But what have the original pair gone on to do after their TV appearances?

Well, James went on to become a vehicle technician at BMW, before working for breakdown support service. the RAC.

James as the face of an RAC recruitment drive at the HQ by Walsall (RAC)
James as the face of an RAC recruitment drive at the HQ by Walsall (RAC)

He said: "I absolutely love my job. There's nothing better than being out on the roads helping people who have broken down. I really pride myself on being able to fix most of the cars I go out to."

Meanwhile Dylan has started his own nutrition business, and his Instagram shows him with an impressive physique.

Dylan has now started up a fitness business (Instagram/mckenna_dylan)
Dylan has now started up a fitness business (Instagram/mckenna_dylan)

The pair caught up with Ant and Dec in 2013, this time over a pint, with Dylan saying: "It's always good to see Ant and Dec again.

"They were shocked when they saw us, it's been a few years since we have caught up and we are much taller!"

Featured Image Credit: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Topics: UK News, Ant and Dec, TV

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined LADbible Group in 2023 as a community journalist. They previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

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