Talk of the Tyne

Apr 8 2005
By Nicola Methvem TV Editor

They have grilled some of the biggest names in showbiz – including the Beckhams, Kylie, Will Smith and Robbie Williams – and they are still only 10 years old.
Such is the popularity of Little Ant and Dec, who have a regular slot on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, that no one ever turns them down, however famous.
Last weekend, the pair were even granted an audience with Tony Blair on the eve of him announcing a general election.
Despite having an impressive collection of big name interviews under their belts, they still got the jitters about meeting the Prime Minister in his Downing Street home.
They confess: “We were very nervous as he’s the second most important man, after the Queen… But the Queen’s not a man.”
Nearly a week after meeting Blair, they have still not quite come back down to earth.
“He was brilliant, because we were both very nervous to be going to Number 10,” raves Little Ant.
It turns out that the Labour leader was top of his wish-list of interviewees. But he has now been replaced by someone the youngster holds in equal thrall.
“We’ve done Blair, so now I’d most like to talk to The Rock,” says Little Ant. “I love wrestling. I’d ask him if it is just acting or proper moves.”
A huge Little Britain fan, he would also like to interrogate comedian Matt Lucas. It can only be a matter of time...
Ant and Dec discovered the likely lads when they scoured
the North East looking for mini versions of themselves for their hit ITV show.
They knew they’d struck gold when they saw Gateshead schoolboys James Pallister (Little Ant) and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw (Little Dec).
The petite pranksters get on just as well with their grown-up Geordie counterparts, saying, “They look after us on stage when we forget what we’re supposed to say.”
Although the pair are unfazed by their new-found celebrity status, their parents have been bowled over by the calibre of stars they’ve talked to.
Their mums went weak at the knees when their young sons met Bond star Pierce Brosnan, and shed a tear or two when they sang with Westlife.
But their dads were rather more impressed when Kylie Minogue chased them down the hallway with her knickers.
The nation’s new kings of chat have very different ways of preparing to quiz the stars.
Little Ant says: “We usually get up early when we have to interview a big celebrity. I like to have a bath and wash my hair and then get breakfast.”
Little Dec prefers to rush the bath part so he can fit in a proper meal of scrambled eggs. He confesses that on the way to a meeting they sometimes get a bit hyper: “We get really excited in the car and we usually get wrong for shouting.”
“Get wrong” is a North East expression meaning to be told-off. It’s something that happens to them a lot – Little Dec for running down the batteries on his dad’s iPod and Little Ant just “all the time”.
He has an unusual tactic to make amends, revealing: “I make my mam fishfinger sandwiches to say sorry if I’ve been naughty.”
They bring this down-to-earth attitude to every interview – often with hilarious consequences.
If a star doesn’t give the duo what they want, they are given short shrift.
And the boys are not immune to fits of giggles or deadpan stares if an answer goes over their heads. Even so, they claim to have enjoyed every interview they’ve done, and hearing their anecdotes it is clear they’ve had lots of fun.
“Will Smith was excellent,” laughs Little Ant. “We went to Venice to interview him and he told us to stop swimming by shouting, ‘Get out of the swimming pool, dudes!’
“And we thought Richard Branson would be dead posh but he wasn’t.
“He was good fun and threw a boiled egg at us. I trod crisps into his living room carpet by accident.”
Food is often on their minds.
Cliff Richard scored mega points with the pair when they turned their noses up at salmon for lunch, giving them spaghetti hoops instead.
Sadly, Sir Cliff was less fun as an interviewee.
Trying to be tactful, Little Dec says: “I started to yawn by accident when we were interviewing him. Not ’cos he was boring, just his answers were very, very long.
“But Samuel L Jackson was brilliant, we had a staring competition with him and played Twister. He was very bendy for an old bloke.”
They also had a laugh with Robbie Williams, even though they were a tad distracted while chatting to him.
“Our bums got hot on the white leather seats,” explains Little Dec. “If you watch you’ll see we keep shuffling around.”
They say their interviewees have no say over what they are asked and don’t see the questions in advance. This leads to some amusing reactions if celebs are put on the spot.
When they met Kylie it was around the time she launched a new lingerie range. They asked, cheekily: “We’ve had a look at some of your bras and pants and they don’t look very warm. Do you wear underpants in the winter?”
Kylie gamely replied that she didn’t.
“We wouldn’t tell Kylie what colour pants we had on,” recalls Little Ant, adding with a snigger, “We all had a knicker fight and chased Kylie around the room. Dad was so jealous.
“When Kylie was chasing us down the corridor, I opened a door on the cameraman’s nose by accident and I couldn’t stop laughing.”
Kian from Westlife was gobsmacked when they announced, “A girl in the papers said you were an animal in bed. What kind of animal did you pretend to be?”
He finally spluttered: “I have no idea… A lion?”
Afterwards they had lunch with the Irish pop stars. Little Dec recalls, “I spent the whole time talking to Mark about the scab I had on my knee.”
Later the band taught them to dance and sing on stage.
“Our mams cried because they thought it was so sweet,” says Little Ant.
Little Dec butts in with: “No, I think they were crying because they wished it was them singing with Westlife.”
Another favourite stunt is dressing people up and making them look ridiculous. Ewan McGregor was kitted out as a trainspotter.
“And David Beckham was laughing for ages when we got him dressed up as a king,” says Little Ant.
“Victoria Beckham was really nice, too. We went to Hamley’s toy shop and played football. She was in goal and I kicked the ball into her by mistake.
“When we asked if she would get Brooklyn to play for Newcastle United she called David on her mobile and passed it to me.
“I forgot to leave my name – that was funny.”
Asked if they prefer Kylie or Posh, the boys reply, diplomatically, “They are both pretty but we don’t want them as girlfriends, thank you very much.”
They have also recommended their tailor to Hugh Grant, heard all about George Clooney’s pig and sang to Diana Ross.
“The music and our words didn’t match up and she looked at us as if we were mad,” chuckles Little Dec. “She did join in, but we were giggling.”
Despite giving chat show veterans Michael Parkinson and Jonathan Ross a run for their money, the pair have their feet firmly on the ground.
Little Dec says: “Our friends treat us normal. We are just James and Dylan from school.”
But looking faintly horrified, his pal adds: “Although some of the girls in the year below ask for our autographs.”
It seems they’re happy to leave the tricky subject of girls to the grown-up Ant and Dec.
At least for now...

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/