Declan Donnelly was forced to apologize after accidentally shoplifting from a motorway M&S store as he shared he was about to be arrested last week.
In the latest episode of his podcast ‘Hanging Out With Ant And Dec with Ant McPartlin’, the presenter revealed he accidentally walked away from a self-service checkout at Bridgwater Services in Somerset without paying.
It wasn’t until he was back on the road and had taken a bite of his M&S egg and maple bacon sandwich that he realized he had committed a crime.
The incident happened when Dec was driving back from Cornwall with his wife Ali Astall after a few weeks’ holiday.
Confessingly he began: “I almost got arrested yesterday.”
Ant, surprised, asked, “What do you mean, almost arrested?”
Dec explained: “I almost didn’t make it here today. I could have been arrested yesterday. I broke the law yesterday.
‘I was on my way back. I was away in Cornwall for a few days. Then I was on the way back. Long drive back from Cornwall. Far away from London. We stopped halfway to take a pee and get a sandwich.
Declan Donnelly has apologized after shoplifting at a motorway M&S store because he feared being arrested
An outraged Ant continued: ‘What? Declan Donley is a thief. When did you know?’
‘We like to stop at services with an M&S because it makes a nice, good sandwich.
‘So we go in, we choose our sandwiches, choose our bag of chips, choose a sweet treat for afterwards.’
“So far, none of this is arrest material. None of this is criminal. It’s not a criminal act,” Ant interrupted.
Dec continued: “We’ll put a little bang bang chicken in there to share. Take it to the self-service checkout.
“So I start beeping. Beep, beep, beep, beep. I don’t have a bag. It’s too much to bear. I’ll have to buy a bag for life. So I get one of the bags. Beep that. Put everything in the bag. Beep me Sparks card. And then I just walk away.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ant asked. Dec confirmed: ‘I just walked away. I put everything in the bag. Beeped me spark card. I didn’t pay for anything.’
An outraged Ant continued: ‘What? Declan Donnelly is a thief! So when did you realize it?
“While I was tucking into an egg and bacon sandwich with maple syrup,” Dec replied, while Ant hit back: “Egg and bacon sandwich.” You dirty, criminal idiot.”
Dec explained: ‘As I was tucking into my sandwich I turned to the current Mrs D and said with a mouth full egg and bacon sandwich. I said, “I didn’t pay for this.”
‘She said, ‘What do you mean? What do you mean?’ I said, “I didn’t pay for it. I beeped my Sparks card and I just left.”
Wanting to correct his mistake and avoid arrest, Dec called the emergency services, but he couldn’t get through.
He then called his team to explain: ‘I call the office with the girls in the office and I say, “I just shoplifted at Bridgwater Services. My heart rate increases slightly. I think I’m going to get arrested because they know it was me.” They knew it was me.”
Dec explained: ‘As I was tucking into my sandwich I turned to the current Mrs D and said with a mouth full of an egg and bacon sandwich. I said, ‘I didn’t pay for this.'”
‘Naturally. You are one of the most recognizable men in Britain, you can’t get away with this behavior,” Ant replied.
Dec continued: ‘So they called the services and said, ‘Dec has just been in. He just shoplifted. He is currently eating the spoils of his efforts.”
“What can we do to resolve the situation?” and they said, “Thank you for your honesty, but honestly, there’s nothing we can do right now other than please make a donation to our charity.” So I ended up making a donation to M&S’s partner charity.”
He added: ‘For a little more actually than the sandwiches cost. I made a donation to charity to cover the sandwiches. So I’m a little out of pocket because it was more than my bread and butter.”
Ant confirmed M&S had had no contact with him and joked: ‘They were going to be a sponsor of this podcast. Not anymore.’
