Declan Donnelly has apologised after accidentally shoplifting from an M&S store at a motorway services station, revealing he feared he was about to be arrested.
The presenter, known as one half of Ant and Dec, made the confession on the latest episode of his podcast Hanging Out With Ant and Dec, which he hosts with long-time on-screen partner Ant McPartlin. Donnelly explained that he had walked away from a self-service checkout at Bridgwater Services in Somerset without paying, only realising his mistake once he had already taken a bite of his M&S egg and maple bacon sandwich.
The incident happened as Donnelly was driving back from Cornwall with his wife, Ali Astall, after a few weeks' holiday.
"I nearly got arrested yesterday," Donnelly told McPartlin at the start of the episode. A surprised McPartlin asked: "What do you mean, nearly got arrested?"
Donnelly replied: "I nearly didn't make it here today. I could have got arrested yesterday. I broke the law yesterday. I was on the way back. I had a few days away in Cornwall. Then I was on the drive back. Long drive back from Cornwall. Long way away from London. We stopped off halfway for a little bit of a wee and to get a sandwich."
He described picking out sandwiches, a bag of crisps and "a little sweet treat for afterwards" at the M&S store, along with a bang bang chicken dish to share, before taking everything to the self-service checkout.
"So far none of this is arrest material. None of this is criminal. It's not a criminal act," McPartlin interjected, before Donnelly continued describing the mishap.
"We stick in a little bang bang chicken to share. Take it to the self-service checkout," he said. "So I start bleeping it. Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep. I haven't got a bag. It's too much to carry. I'm going to have to get a bag for life. So, I get one of the bags. Bleep that. Put everything in the bag. Bleep me Sparks card. And then I just walk off."
When McPartlin asked what he meant, Donnelly confirmed: "I just walked off. I put everything in the bag. Bleeped me Sparks card. Didn't pay for anything."
"What? Declan Donnelly is a thief! So when did you realise?" McPartlin asked.
"As I was tucking into me egg and maple bacon sandwich," Donnelly replied, prompting McPartlin to hit back: "Egg and bacon sandwich. Dirty, criminal git."
Donnelly explained that he turned to his wife mid-bite and admitted what had happened. "I turned to the current Mrs D and I said with a mouth full of egg and bacon sandwich, I went, 'I haven't paid for this.' She went, 'What do you mean? What do you mean?' I went, 'I haven't paid for it. I bleeped me Sparks card and I just left.'"
Calling the office in a panic
Keen to put things right and avoid arrest, Donnelly said he tried calling the services directly but could not get through, so he rang his own team instead.
"I get on the phone to the office to the girls in the office and I say, 'I've just shoplifted from Bridgwater Services. My heart rate is slightly raised. I think I'm going to get arrested because they know it was me.' They knew it was me," he said.
"Of course. You're one of the most recognisable men in Britain, you can't get away with this behaviour," McPartlin replied.
Ant and Dec, real names Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, have presented together since the 1990s and are among the best-known double acts on British television, fronting shows including Britain's Got Talent, I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! and Saturday Night Takeaway. Marks & Spencer, commonly known as M&S, is a major British retailer whose food halls are a regular feature at motorway services stations across the UK.
M&S response and charity donation
Donnelly said his office staff then rang the services on his behalf. "They rang the services and they said, 'Dec's just been in. He's just shoplifted. He's currently eating the spoils of his endeavours.' 'What can we do to resolve the situation?' and they said, 'Thank you for your honesty, but honestly, there's nothing we can do now, but please make a donation to our charity.' So in the end I made a donation to M&S's partner charity," he said.
He added that the donation ended up costing him more than the shopping itself. "For slightly more actually than the sandwiches cost. I made a donation to charity to cover the sandwiches. So I am slightly out of pocket, because it was more than my sandwich."
Donnelly confirmed that M&S had not been in touch with him directly over the incident. McPartlin joked in response: "They were going to be a sponsor of this podcast. Not anymore."
