Meet Saturday Night Takeaway star Declan Donnelly's family: wife, daughter and more

Declan Donnelly has been a national treasure for over twenty years alongside presenting partner Ant McPartlin. The TV favourites began their career by appearing in children's drama series Byker Grove, before embarking on their musical journey as PJ & Duncan. After trying their hand at music, the pair soon started fronting many shows as a double act including SMTV Live and Pop Idol - and have been loved ever since!

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While Dec no doubt considers Ant part of his family (and according to their DNA programme which aired last year, he actually is!) Dec has quite a large family of his own. If you've ever wondered who's in the Donnelly family, then fear not as we've done some investigating. Here's everything you need to know…

Dec's parents

Dec was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1975 to parents Alphonsus Donnelly and Anne Donnelly. The presenter's parents originally lived in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, but moved over to Newcastle in the 1950s. Dec clearly has a loving relationship with his mum and even included his mum's name in his daughter's full name. Sadly, Dec's father Alphonsus died of cancer in 2011.

MORE: Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway viewers in 'happy tears' following episode

Ant & Dec celebrated their OBE awards with their mums

Dec's siblings

It seems that the Donnellys are a rather large family. Dec is the youngest of seven children born to Anne and Alphonsus. Dec has three sisters, Camelia, Patricia, and Moira, and has three brothers, Martin, Eamonn and Dermott. It's not often that Dec is seen with his siblings, however in 2019 he was pictured with sister Moira at her 50th birthday party.

Dec and his sister Moira

The picture, uploaded by the fan account @Allantanddec on Twitter, saw the two with their arms around each other enjoying the party which was held in Ponteland, according to the post. Declan's brother, Dermott Donnelly, is a priest and even conducted Dec's wedding to Ali Astall in 2015. How lovely!

Wife and daughter

Dec, who previously dated Sky Sports reporter Georgie Thompson, found love with his manager Ali Astall. The pair went out for a year before Dec popped the question in November 2014 when they were working in Australia. The lovebirds married in a beautiful ceremony in Dec's Newcastle hometown back in 2015.

Dec married Ali Astall married in 2015

Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton, Ashley Roberts, Dermott O'Leary, Phillip Schofield, Marvin and Rochelle Humes and Vernon Kay and Tess Daly were just some of the celebrity guests who were spotted arriving at the wedding - as well as the groom's best man and comedy partner Ant.

MORE: Ant McPartlin's luxury home in Wimbledon is seriously impressive

The couple welcomed their daughter Isla Elizabeth Anne in September 2018. Announcing the exciting news to fans on Twitter along with an adorable picture, Dec wrote: "Ali and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of our baby girl, Isla Elizabeth Anne, who was born just after 9 o'clock this morning. Mother and daughter both doing well, Dad is head over heels! D x."

Dec and Ali welcomed their first child, daughter Isla, in 2018

DNA journey

In November, Dec found out that he and Ant were more than just life-long friends. Ant and Dec's DNA Journey, which aired last November, focused on both presenters' mission to find out more about their respective family history. The DNA journey took around two years to create, including a short break while Ant attended rehab for alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

After Ant's recovery, the show continued and they both found many interesting facts about their family, including Dec discovering his American cousins and uncovering facts about his Irish heritage. But most surprisingly of all, Ant and Dec discovered that they are in fact related. The two were pleased to hear that they have the same DNA marker, which means that Ant and Dec are related as distant cousins.

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