Ant and Dec reveal why they would NEVER host the BRIT Awards again

Ant and Dec have revealed why they would never host the BRIT Awards again – and have hinted at having ‘beef’ with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

The presenting duo have hosted the ceremony three times – 2001, 2015, and 2016 – but they have no desire to do it again. 

Speaking on Thursday’s episode of their podcast Hanging Out, Ant shared that the reason the pair decided ‘never again’ is because everyone just wants to get drunk and have fun, which makes hosting a challenge. 

He went on to say that as host you’re always promised that stars will give you an interview mid-show but they tend to change their mind right before going live. 

One band who they called out for this in particular for this was Coldplay – which Dec went on to joke was ‘the beginning of Ant’s beef with Chris Martin’.

‘You not hosting it? Dec asked about this Saturday’s BRITs, to which Ant laughed and replied: ‘No I’m not, are you? Three times. Never again.’ 

Ant continued: ‘I should never say never, because it’s, a weird thing to host.’

Later Ant revealed why they don’t want to host again as he said: ‘It’s a fun night if you’re nominated. It’s a fun night, not necessarily, if you’re hosting it, though, because everybody in the room just wants to get drunk and have a good time.

‘Yet you’re trying to wrangle the whole crowd, and you’re also trying to present the TV show, and also all the artists and bands who said they would happily do an interview with you before the show starts, always change their mind. 

‘They’ll say “Down in the middle of the show Coldplay are going to do an interview with you”. You’re like “Great it’s going to be a great show”. And then come to the night, like, 10 minutes before you go live, they say, “Hmm Coldplay don’t really want to do an interview before they perform”.’

‘This is the start of Ant’s beef with Chris Martin,’ Dec said, to which Ant was quick to jump in with: ‘I don’t have beef.’

One of the BRITs most memorable moments was in 2015 when superstar Madonna’s cape got stuck and she tumbled down the stairs live on air. 

And while that moment happened during Ant and Dec’s second hosting gig, they missed the entire thing. 

Discussing the feeling when you near the end of the show, Dec began: ‘One of the best feelings, though, is getting to the end of it. It feels like you’ve you’ve landed the show, you’ve landed that plane. It’s been a bit of turbulence, but you’ve landed the plane. 

‘And we felt that one time, was it the 2015? The Madonna one. We had to hit the Madonna link on zero. We get there and it’s a bit chaotic, and it’s always the last award is always for Best Album, so we come off Best Album, we filled a bit of time, and then we’re going. “Here to close the show, it’s Madonna”. We throw the Madonna.’

Ant continued: ‘And we say “Madonna” on zero. And we turn to each other, we’re like “Yes we’ve landed this plane”.’

Dec said: ‘We turn each other. We fist bump like that. Somebody came over, handed us a glass of champagne each. We went “Yes, we did it”, we turned around and started walking out of the auditorium. 

‘So we head back to our dressing room, and we’re there like “Cheers, cheers, chin, chin, lovely job. Well done”. And then we put on the TV, and like top story on the news, “Madonna falls at The BRITs”. 

‘And we’re like “What no she’s not she’s just performing there?”. We missed the whole thing.’

Recalling the moment, Ant said: ‘Do you remember? It was the famous bit where they pulled the cape, and the cape was stuck on her and it was meant to come off in one backwards, and she tumbled me backwards down the stairs. 

‘It was that year, but we missed it all.’

Ant and Dec have not only hosted the awards but they were nominated back in the 1990s – when they faced off against none other than Oasis.

‘I think they’re really good for British music,’ Ant said. ‘It’s actually a really good night if you’re there as somebody who’s been nominated, because we’ve been nominated for a Brit back in the day, and that was a fun night. We didn’t win that night.’

Dec continued: ‘Best Newcomer we were nominated for in 1994 and you won’t even believe who won it, went on to win it.’

‘You probably never heard of them again,’ Dec noted, as Ant said: ‘They were a band from Manchester called Oasis.’

Dec laughed as he said: ‘Yeah, they won Best Newcomer that year. I don’t think they achieved much. They didn’t do anything.’

‘If they’d stuck at it they could have been big,’ Ant joked.