Ant and Dec want Piers Morgan to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Ant and Dec have said they are trying to sign up Piers Morgan for this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

The Geordie duo also revealed that they have their eyes on Richard Madeley, radio DJ Tim Westwood and ex-England football star Alan Shearer as potential contestants.

The hit reality show is expected to return to ITV in November with the line-up being kept secret.

Speaking via video link at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, Declan Donnelly claimed that the Good Morning Britain host has repeatedly made excuses about heading to the Australian jungle.

When asked by host Susanna Reid who they were keen to see in this year’s series, he said: “There is a guy who sits in this seat next to you who has said he would do it for a certain amount.

“Piers has said he would do it for a certain amount of money, which I think we could meet, but he keeps on wriggling out of it.

“We have a list that we get every year and we add to it and subtract from it.

“On our list at the moment, one person we are tracking down this year is Richard Madeley.”

His presenting partner Ant McPartlin added: “Tim Westwood. I would like to see that. Alan Shearer, the list is endless.”

The pair appeared during a panel hosted by Reid, which included ITV’s head of television Kevin Lygo.

They also confirmed that filming for Saturday Night Takeaway began yesterday after an extended hiatus.

Donnelly revealed: “We are going ahead with it next February and we have been working on it during the summer.

“We did our first filming day yesterday, so we are very much part of the process all the way through from conception through to delivering on air.

“It’s the platform we get the most involved in.”

McPartlin added: “We just started working on next year’s series. This week, we started filming yesterday, so that takes a lot of time, as I say.

“We try to challenge ourselves to keep pushing the boundaries. Topping ourselves every year.”

McPartlin was replaced by Holly Willoughby during last year’s series of I’m A Celebrity after he took a break from TV commitments following a drink driving conviction.

The RTS Cambridge Conference runs until Friday.

​Additional reporting by Press Association

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