Ant and Dec recall violent bust up after a night of boozy partying just HOURS before being forced to make early morning ITV appearance

Lifelong friends Ant and Dec have recalled a rare row in their friendship which resulted in punches being thrown.

The I’m A Celeb presenters lifted the lid on the 1995 incident which took place after a night of drunken farewells just hours ahead of their early morning appearance on ITV.

Ant and Dec, now both 48, were in Spain at the time to promote their latest single Stuck On U and went to the pub on a rare day off.

In their 2020 memoir, Once Upon a Tyne: Our Story, the pair said that after a few too many drinks, Dec decided to call it a night before their early morning interview.

However, Ant wasn’t happy about the party ending and as his friend staggered to the lift he demanded: ‘Don’t you dare walk away from me when I’m talking to you.’

The I’m A Celeb presenters lifted the lid on the 1995 incident which happened after a night of drunken farewells just hours before their early morning appearance on ITV (pictured in 1995)

A furious Dec then raged back, asking his friend ‘who the hell did he think he was’ and talking to him like that.

The duo continued to argue in the lift before a drunk Dec put his fingers in his ears and sang: ‘La la la la, I can’t hear you’.

Ant admitted in the book: ‘That made my blood boil, I punched Dec in the chest.’

Dec tried to knock his friend’s cap off but missed as Ant quipped: “I’ve proven Dec is bad at fighting when he’s had a few.”

Just two hours later the feuding friends were in make-up and refusing to even look at each other as they prepared to appear on GMTV.

But once on camera, tensions thawed and the friends claimed they had never argued again in 30 years.

In 2019, Ant revealed he turned to alcohol in an attempt to escape his ‘underlying unhappiness’ ahead of his shock drink-driving arrest.

In a candid interview with The sun on Sunday the star, whose marriage to Lisa Armstrong ended in 2018, stated that he secretly drank to cope with the “stresses and strains” of his life.

Ant and Dec, now both 48, were in Spain at the time to promote their latest single Stuck On U, and during a rare day off they went to the pub (pictured in 2006)

Ant wasn’t happy about the party ending and as his friend Dec staggered to the lift he demanded: ‘Don’t you dare walk away from me when I’m talking to you’ – before a fight broke out (pictured in 1995)

He also revealed that after his arrest for drunk driving, he was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), a mental condition that he believes is strongly linked to alcohol addiction.

“Life has hit me hard,” Ant told The Sun of his spiral into heavy drinking. ‘I have experienced many personal things that received a lot of publicity. The problem is that you take something or drink to escape an underlying unhappiness.’

Ant, who is rumored to be expecting his first child with second wife Anne-Marie Corbett, pleaded guilty to drink-driving after a car crash in London that year and admitted that around the time of the accident ‘ was dependent on alcohol.

He confessed: ‘I was still drinking in a dependent state. Not always. But enough to worry about it. I hadn’t addressed it. It built up and led to the day of the crash, the worst day of my life.”

Anne-Marie, 46, appeared several months pregnant when she landed in London earlier this month after a winter break in Dubai with the TV presenter.

Speculation increased after Anne decided not to fly to Australia to be by her husband’s side while he hosted ITV‘s I’m A Celebrity – while Declan Donnelly was joined by his wife Ali Astall and their two children, Isla, five, and Jack, one.

Ant’s wife Anne-Marie, 46, looked several months pregnant when she landed in London earlier this month after a winter break in Dubai with the TV presenter

Rumors have been circulating for months that Ant and his wife Anne-Marie, 46, are expecting their first child together (pictured together at the Silverstone Circuit for the F1 Grand Prix in July 2023)

Anne-Marie has two teenage daughters from her previous marriage to Scott Corbett, who she split from shortly before she started dating the presenter after being Ant’s PA.

Ant’s marriage to his ex-wife Lisa Armstrong ended in 2018 after 14 years together.

Friends claim the 47-year-old Strictly make-up artist will be ‘very upset’ if her ex-partner’s happy news is confirmed as she too was desperate to become a mother.

It is believed that Lisa and Ant tried to have a baby for several years and she was devastated when their marriage ended, still childless.

A friend said: ‘Anne-Marie was Lisa’s friend, and she was heavily involved in getting her a job with the McPartlins.

‘Lisa sent Anne-Marie’s children birthday and Christmas presents, she even went on holiday with them, and then, boom, it all changed.’

Ant has always been open about his desire to become a father.

In 2013 he revealed the couple’s problems, saying: ‘There’s a rumor going around that I’m waiting to have children until Dec finds himself Mrs Right.

‘I like that idea, but I’m afraid it’s not true. Lisa and I really want children. Tried. When you get older, it’s harder than you think.’