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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Lucy Domachowski

Declan Donnelly gives rare insight into family life and shares update on daughter Isla

Declan Donnelly has given fans a glimpse into his relationship with his three-year-old daughter Isla.

The TV star appeared on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway: Behind the Scenes alongside pal Ant McPartlin as they gave fans a look at how the show is made.

The Geordie duo were seen getting ready to rehearse part of the show as they got into costume.

Narrator Sara Cox explained: "Frozen is coming to North West London in one of Takeaway's most spectacular End of the Show Show ever."

The camera panned to Dec who was dressed in a sparkly blue costume, like that of Elsa’s from the hit Disney animation Frozen.

Speaking the camera, Dec explained: "This is how I came to work. I'm a big fan of Frozen so this is my own outfit. I don't know what they've got for me in costume."

Dec told fans how he and his daughter are big fans of Frozen (ITV)

Sara continued: "They'll be performing the iconic song Let It Go from the hit musical."

The Geordie star then admitted: "I know the movie quite well. My daughter is four year's old now so she is right in prime Elsa territory.

"When I told her this morning I was going to work to see Elsa, it kind of blew her tiny mind."

Dec and his Australian wife Ali Astall welcomed their daughter Isla back in September 2018, but the Britain's Got Talent host rarely discusses his personal and family life.

He is also father to Jack who the couple welcomed in July 2022.

Meanwhile, Ant is now stepfather to wife Anne-Marie Corbett's two daughters after the couple got married in August 2021.

I’m A Celebrity host Dec has spoken regularly about how much he loves being a dad.

In his book with Ant, Once Upon A Tyne, he gushed about how becoming a father "transformed" him.

Dec and Ali share two children together (Getty Images)
Daughter Isla was born in September 2018 (SplashNews.com)

He wrote: "At first, like all expectant parents, I didn’t truly understand how much it was going to change me.

"I just thought it was another little person coming to live in the house. It opened up a whole other side to me, a side I didn’t know existed.

"I felt a love that I didn’t realise it was possible to feel. Everything I do, every day, is for my daughter now."

But it isn’t without his challenges as he last year he admitted how hard being a parent can be.

Dec said: “No one tells you how hard being a parent is.

“We could have had a warning. It is literally the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I’m loving it.”

Dec married his and Ant’s talent manager Ali in 2015 after the pair reportedly starting dating in 2013 with a Valentine’s Day dinner.

Ali was Ant and Dec’s manager for 10 years before romance blossomed.

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