Ant McPartlin Fights Back Tears In Video Of Him Reuniting With Dec On Britain's Got Talent

It was an emotional launch of this year's Britain's Got Talent as Ant McPartlin fought back tears while receiving a standing ovation as he returned to the stage.

Ant and Dec reunited publicly for the first time as filming for the upcoming series of the talent show kicked off with auditions at the London Palladium.

Declan Donnelly appeared on stage alone first saying: "We've got the judges back, the golden buzzer is back, and someone else is back. My co-host for the series, would you please welcome... Mr Ant McPartlin."

The audience seemed to be looking forward to seeing the other half of the duo and went wild as Ant ran out on stage giving a bow.

He said: "Hello everyone. Oh god, I'm really really emotional now. I've missed you all. As for you (pointing at Dec) I've missed you. Thank you very much, what a warm welcome."

Ant added: "What a great show to come back to, I'm thrilled, I'm over the moon. Shall we move on before I cry?"

Members of the audience can be heard screaming: "We love you, Ant."

Prior to the show, the Geordie duo teased fans with a selfie on Twitter along with the comment: "The boys are back in town."

The audience and Dec weren't the only ones to express their love for the BGT host, Simon Cowell also commented on Ant's return.

He said: "Ant welcome back. We missed you; it wasn't the same. I mean even though Dec was brilliant, it still wasn't the same.

"It would be like me not being with David [Walliams], I would be happy, but not happy - if that makes sense. So on behalf of all of us, welcome back, we're family. (Turns to audience) You are family!"

This will be Ant's first time on television after being off the screen for almost a year.

The 43-year-old was involved in a drink-driving crash where he was fined £86,000 and the decision was made for him to take a break to recover.

This led to him being replaced by Holly Willoughby for the recent series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, Britain's Got Talent, UK Entertainment, Ant and Dec

Rachael Grealish

Rachael is a NCTJ qualified journalist from West Cumbria, with a passion for news, features and journalism. Outside of work Rachael loves plenty of coffee, running and reading.

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