Ant and Dec sign US TV deal potentially worth over £30m each

Britain’s Got Talent hosts Ant and Dec are set to follow in the footsteps of their old CD:UK co-presenter Cat Deeley and head to the US to further their presenting career.

The pair, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, are said to have signed deal to front two series of new gameshow Wanna Bet? with the ABC network for £8.5million each. However, their net earnings could top £30million each if the show is as popular as it is anticipated to be.

Ant is quoted in the People newspaper as saying: “We’ve been offered a few shows in the US over the last couple of years, but none were quite right.”

“But as soon as we were asked to host Wanna Bet? we jumped at the chance. It’s big, it’s fun and it’s sometimes silly.”

But Dec added that producers were worried that their trademark Geordie accents might get in the way: “They were worried about the accents so they got someone to listen to us.”

“If he didn’t understand something, he’d press a button to contact production. They weren’t completely in the dark - it only happened about twice in six shows.”

“But we had to watch what we said. They even hired a special person to listen to every word to check that the Americans would understand us. It was bizarre.”

A source close to the new show added: “There were fear that the accents might be a turnoff for American audiences.”

“But at the filming of the pilot shows of Wanna Bet? the audiences absolutely loved them.”

“ABC saw the commercial potential of Ant and Dec. They acted quickly by offering the boys this astonishing two series deal. The boys have really hit the jackpot.”