Ant McPartlin thanks well-wishers for ‘kind messages’ following birth of son

Anthony McPartlin has thanked fans for their “kind messages of love and well wishes” after he welcomed his first child with his wife, Anne-Marie Corbett.

The TV presenter, who announced the birth of the baby boy named Wilder earlier this week, confirmed the newborn was “doing great”.

McPartlin also cleared up speculation that his dog, Hurley, had been left out of his family tree tattoo which he had shown off when previously announcing the news.

In a post to the joint X account he has with friend and co-presenter Declan Donnelly, McPartlin wrote: “Hey all, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the kind messages of love and well wishes for our baby Wilder. He’s doing great.”

Addressing the fears that Hurley had been missed in the tattoo, the TV star added: “Glad you loved the tattoo as well.

“For all you dog lovers who asked why my beloved Hurley wasn’t on the family tree… he was!! He was just covered by our newborn.

“All my love, gratitude and heartfelt thanks. A”

In the original announcement post on Tuesday, McPartlin posted a photo which showed his son’s head leaning against his shoulder, which concealed the name Hurley which was written in the corner of the family tree.

“Welcome to the family Wilder Patrick McPartlin”, he wrote alongside the post.

“Born, 14/05/24 at 8.54am.

“Baby is beautiful, Mummy’s a legend, Sisters are over the moon. Dad’s a mess!”

McPartlin, one half of entertainment duo Ant and Dec, and Corbett were married in 2021 in a ceremony in a rural church in Hampshire.

Corbett also has two teenage daughters from her previous relationship.

Donnelly has two children, Isla and Jack, with his wife, Ali Astall.

Last year, they pair announced they would be halting popular ITV show Saturday Night Takeaway after the 20th series, which came to an end last month.

In an interview with Fault magazine published in February, McPartlin said: “Part of the reason we’re pausing Takeaway is we need a break ourselves, and we need to spend some time with our family.

“We’ve both got children that we need to spend time with for a little bit.”

The Geordie presenting duo can currently be seen hosting Britain’s Got Talent.