Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly (Credit: Instagram @antanddec)
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Ant and Dec replaced by Phillip Schofield as hosts of the Prince’s Trust Awards

It was due to a scheduling conflict

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have been replaced as hosts of the Prince’s Trust Awards.

The Geordie duo, who have presented the awards ceremony for the past six years, have pulled out of the 2019 event due to a scheduling conflict.

The awards show will now be hosted by This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield and former Celebrity Juice star Fearne Cotton.

Ant and Dec leave the Palladium
Ant is reportedly moving away from Dec (Credit: Hewitt / SplashNews.com)

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Ant and Dec’s rep said in a statement: “The Prince’s Trust invited Ant & Dec to host the Prince’s Trust Awards.

“However, due to the event taking place a week later than last year, this year’s date unfortunately clashed with commitments they already had in place.

“The long-standing Ambassadors of the Trust have recorded a special video message for the event this year.”

It comes after the pair failed to secure a nomination at this year’s Royal Television Society Awards for the first time in nine years.

Ant and Dec have lived near each other for almost three decades (Credit: Kirk Andrew Cleaver / SplashNews.com)

The pair have been missed off the list at the upcoming ceremony, which honours the “extraordinary talent evident across the UK’s television”.

Instead, The Voice coach Jennifer Hudson, Michael McIntyre, rapper Big Narstie and Mo Gilligan will go head-to-head for the Best Entertainment Performance gong.

But Britain’s Got Talent, which the pair host, has been nominated for the Entertainment Award along with The Last Leg and Don’t Hate The Playaz.

Following Ant’s drink-drive arrest and stint in rehab last year, the pair didn’t make an appearance at the event in 2018 despite being nominated for an award. However, they didn’t bag the gong.

But they did bag the Best Presenter award at the National Television Awards earlier this year – making it their 18th win in a row for the category.

Ant and Dec Instagram
BGT is almost upon us (Credit: Instagram/antanddec)

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Ant was left overwhelmed when he and Dec were awarded the gong.

He said: “Oh wow. Wow. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, very much. This is a genuine shock, especially this year, I’m shaking here.

“I don’t feel I can accept this award this year, the one reason we got it is because of this guy, his hard work, dedication, wit, funniness and being the best mate there is, I love you, well done.

Dec added: “Thank you, thank you to everyone who sent kind and thoughtful messages while I was flying the flag for the two of us, I’ve got him back now.”

Ant and Dec will return to TV next month for the new series of Britain’s Got Talent.

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Rebecca Carter
Associate Editor (News)

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