At the peak of their fame, Little Ant and Dec were more in demand that the actual versions.
The pint-sized duo were brought onto Saturday Night Takeaway to give us another double dose of laughs and quickly became the highlight of the show.
Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly were joined each week by their tiny counterparts, who were getting massive gigs interviewing big name Hollywood stars, chart-topping pop sensations and even the Prime Minister.
But a huge problem started to develop, literally, meaning the youngster were axed from the show and eventually replaced by a new Little Ant and Dec.
James Pallister and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw were the Geordie duo's original young lookalikes - and some even thought they may take over once the presenters retired.
They dressed Katie Price up in a fat suit and a bald cap, got Ewan McGregor to teach them how to play the bagpipes and made Hugh Grant wear a pair of massive ears.
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here .
On a shopping trip with Victoria Beckham they cheekily tried to sign son Brooklyn up for their beloved football club Newcastle United.
Then they went one step further by trying to dupe David Beckham into playing for their home team.
They got in hot water with Will Smith for jokingly making him wait over an hour while they mucked around in the swimming pool ahead of the Venice Film Festival.
Other Hollywood stars also fell foul of the terrible twosome, including Angelina Jolie, and they started giggling when meeting Robert De Niro.
Little Ant and Dec even visited 10 Downing Street to talk politics with then Prime Minister Tony Blair - and of course they had their Newcastle United shirts with them.
Having started out in 2003, the pair's time on the show came to an end after five series and they went back to their normal lives at school.
When bosses decided to bring back Little Ant and Dec in 2013, they had been replaced by an even younger duo.
They realised that James and Dylan were too old to carry on because they were now nearing their 20s.
But the major problem was that they had both grown a lot taller than Ant and Dec, which admittedly isn't saying much.
Dec admitted the pair are both "six footers" and now dwarf their older counterparts in size.
Unsurprisingly, they look very different now and have ditched their trademark Ant and Dec hairstyles, but they have still got those cheeky grins that left viewers and celebrities in stitches.
Neither of the pair has moved away from the North East - with James going on to work as a vehicle technician for BMW before joining the RAC to help drivers in distress.
While Dylan started his own nutrition business, helping people with weight loss, muscle gain and sports performance.
Dylan even snapped himself enjoying a beer with the actual Ant and Dec during a boozy reunion in 2013.
He said: "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!
"It was a really good experience. Me and James used to joke with Ant and Dec. They were great teachers! Looking back I guess we were able to be more naughty and cheeky than they would have got away with.
"Times have changed. I don’t think I look like a Little Ant now but I really enjoyed the experience and its something I’ll never forget."
The lads did return to Saturday Night Takeaway to meet their replacements on the show - with Neil Overend and Haydn Reid taking over from longstanding pair during series 10.
In keeping up with tradition, they had some unforgettable encounters with a host of celebrities, including beating Jennifer Lawrence in an arm wrestle then blindfolded the actress.
The miniature doppelgangers also put footballing legend Wayne Rooney through his paces on the pitch and had a tea party with Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson.
They even unleashed their unique interview style on Boris Johnson, quizzing him on the important topics including not brushing his hair, his lack of typical Mayoral attire and testing his London slang.
Once again, exactly the same issue arose as before and show bosses decided the boys had "outgrown their role".
Like their predecessors, they were also in danger of eclipsing the real Ant and Dec in the height stakes so had to go.
"Little Ant and Dec have outgrown the role, quite literally, and as such won't be returning to the show this year," a source told the Daily Star.
"Little Dec has his SATs next year and Little Ant is moving to high school so it felt like the right time for them to move on and focus on their studies."
They are now too told to return for sketches and interviews, but the pair are frequent visitors to the Saturday Night Takeaway studio.
"They sometimes come down with their families," Dec told Digital Spy last year.
"They'll come down to a show every year. But we didn't see them last year. And we won't see them this year because we won't have anybody at the studio.
"We haven't seen them for a little while. They normally come down to take in a show. That's the one that makes us feel really old!"
The duo also admitted that height was an issue with both versions of their little lookalikes.
"The first Littles are massive as well. They're two six-footers," added Dec.
"We haven't seen the second Littles for a little while. It'll be nice to see them when we can get them back to the studio."
However, this might not be the last time we see a version of Little Ant and Dec on out screens as the Geordie duo are not opposed to finding more lookalikes at some point in the future.
"The good thing is, with something like that, in the future we might want to do it again," Ant teased last year.
"We might search again for two new Littles and do the item again. And we might try it again with two new ones."
Ant and Dec are back tonight for a brand new series, but will there be a new Little Ant and Dec? There's only one way to find out.
*Saturday Night Takeaway starts tonight on ITV at 7pm
Do you have a story to sell? Email webfeatures@trinitymirror.com
