Ant McPartlin got a good laugh out of a shirtless holiday photo that created an embarrassing optical illusion, and he shared the story on his podcast with longtime co-host Declan Donnelly.
The 50-year-old Britain's Got Talent presenter is on vacation in Portugal with his wife Anne-Marie and their family. A photo taken at the beach showed Ant standing next to a friend, Andy Collins, and the angle created a confusing visual.
Ant said someone sent him the image that morning with the message, "oh I see you on the beach," prompting his initial dread at the idea of a shirtless beach shot circulating online. But he quickly realized the picture was not quite what it seemed.
He explained that Collins, who Ant described as a "larger gentleman," was standing directly beside him, causing Collins's midsection to appear as though it belonged to Ant. "His belly kind of protrudes out, but he's stood next to me so it looks like my belly," Ant said on the Hanging Out With Ant and Dec podcast. "First I'm like 'oh my God, I look awful,' and then I'm like 'actually that's not my belly.'"
Ant said he was tempted to post the photo on social media with a caption clarifying it was not his stomach. He also noted that at 50, he no longer worries about that kind of image the way he would have in his younger years. "If I was in my 20s or 30s, that would have freaked me out," he said. "And now I'm like, 'I'm 50, I don't care.' I'm not ashamed to say it. I'm not embarrassed at all."
A Separate Holiday Mishap
Ant also recounted a more awkward holiday moment involving a Thai massage parlour he and Anne-Marie visited near where they were staying. A friend had warned him that the masseuse tends to enter the room quickly.
After struggling with his shirt buttons and then knocking the paper underwear provided by the parlour off the bed, Ant found himself fully undressed and scrambling on the floor when the masseuse walked in. "She can see everything and we just stare at each other for a bit too long," he told Donnelly. "I went 'not yet!'"
Ant said he did go back for the massage but admitted he and the masseuse could not look each other in the eye afterward.
Ant and Anne-Marie married in 2021. They are parents to son Wilder, two, and Anne-Marie's teenage daughters Poppy and Daisy from her previous marriage.
