There’s nothing quite like getting a nice little pay-rise when you’ve been working your hardest at work.
It’s just-reward for staying all those extra hours, grinding out those lonely weekend shifts. Having a few quid in your back pocket every month is always welcome – especially with Christmas around the corner.
Ant and Dec look set to be getting a few extra quid too for all their travails on ITV.
The former Byker Grovers are getting a bumper 20 per cent pay rise which would be a godsend to any one of us.
But the pair, who turned 40 this year, will reportedly now be picking up an eye-watering £30m over a three-year ‘golden handcuffs’ deal keeping them at ITV until 2019, according to The Guardian.
They were reportedly already on a cushty £25m, but they’ve seen their wages bumped up for the good work they’ve been doing fronting up shows like I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here, Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway. Not bad gents, not bad.
They will have been working exclusively with ITV for 21 years by the time their new deal runs out
The TV broadcaster wanted to secure the services of the Geordie mates to fend off interest from the likes of Netflix and Amazon prime, which has seen the likes of Jeremy Clarkson defect to make his new Grand Tour show.
“We are absolutely delighted to be extending our relationship with ITV, to continue on the three shows we love as well as exploring further opportunities both in front of and behind the camera,” the pair told The Guardian.
There was a hint that Ant and Dec might be tempted to leave for one of ITV’s new, online competitors during the negotiations, but then went on to say that a move to Netflix or Amazon was “not necessarily for right now”.
ITV bosses have now got them tied down with weighty pay rises, so we’re all going to be seeing a lot more of them in the next few years.
“Ant and Dec are incredibly passionate about television and have that rare ability to connect with audiences of all ages, which has helped make the shows some of the biggest on British TV,” said Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of television.
Just for a bit of perspective, Simon Cowell reportedly signed a deal worth up to £150m to keep The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent on ITV until at least 2019.
