Declan Donnelly describes his anxiety issues on Fearne Cotton’s podcast
Donnelly appeared on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast with co-presenter and long-time collaborator Anthony McPartlin.
TV presenter Declan Donnelly has spoken about how he suffers from a “constant anxiety” that he should always be doing something and “can never sit down”.
Donnelly said he had therapy about five or six years ago and “really got a lot out of it”.
The I’m Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! host was speaking on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast with co-presenter and long-time collaborator Anthony McPartlin.
They shot to fame as teenagers and are known as Ant and Dec. They spoke about fatherhood and how they have come to appreciate their long-running careers more as they have got older.
Asked about his mental health, Donnelly said: “I struggle a bit with, it’s kind of a low level, constant anxiety about ‘should be doing this’ or ‘I’ve got to be doing…
“I never feel I can sit down and just watch telly, I always feel like I should be doing something else. There’s that anxiety that there’s a job that needs to be done somewhere and I should be doing it.
“I struggle with that a lot, with trying to calm that voice in the back of your head that’s going, ‘no, you should be using this time more productively’.
“I went through a period of having therapy about five, five or six years ago. I really got a lot out of it. I really enjoyed it.”
Donnelly said he went away for a while and when he tried to book another appointment, the therapist said he was unable to see him.
He added: “He did recommend somebody else and I’ve still got those details, I just haven’t managed to make an appointment yet.”
Donnelly, who said it was the very first time they had ever been on a podcast, said they take their jobs “incredibly seriously”.
The Geordie men have hosted a number of primetime entertainment shows over the years, including Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and Ant And Dec’s Limitless Win.
Donnelly said: “When we’re looking at projects, we always look at how can we get the whole family together?
“To entertain the whole family is no mean feat, and you’ve got to try and grab each generation and entertain them. It’s entertainment, it’s fun, but we take it incredibly seriously.”
McPartlin added: “We do the best job in the world. We have a laugh every day.
“We’ve hosted some turkeys over the years. It hasn’t always been a success.
“It’s a privilege to be in someone’s living room on a Saturday night hosting a big show.”
Talking of fatherhood, McPartlin said he now has to be careful of his language around his 19-month-old son.
“I’m getting told off a lot for swearing in the house,” he added.
Donnelly told the podcast that his daughter, Isla, seven, asks to watch I’m Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! but he is reluctant as it is broadcast after the watershed.
He said he also has a three-year-old son, Jack, adding: “I’m not sure my kids should be watching my TV show.”
They also said they are fronting their own podcast series together, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, which launches later this week.
“It’s really exciting,” Donnelly said, adding they recorded a pilot for a podcast “about 15 years ago” in a pub, but did not pursue it at the time.
They apologised last week after they promoted the new podcast with a video that was criticised for its “suicide imagery” of feet dangling above the ground.
They told BBC News in statement: “We did not mean to cause any offence with this promo video and we are sorry if it upset anyone.”
