Ant McPartlin fights back tears after ‘really, really emotional’ return to Britain’s Got Talent

Ant McPartlin said that he was "over the moon" as he made a "really, really emotional" return to Britain's Got Talent today.

The 43-year-old joined his pal and Britain's Got Talent co-host, Declan Donnelly, on stage for the first set of auditions at the London Palladium earlier today [January 18].

And he got a standing ovation as Dec introduced him to the eager audience.

Dec said:

"We've got a bunch of acts backstage who are eager to get out here and perform for you.

"The judges are back, the buzzers are back... and someone else is back.

"My co-host for this series, would you please welcome - Mr Ant McPartlin!"

https://twitter.com/allantanddec/status/1086298115131494400 The audience members all got to their feet and began to cheer as Ant walked onto the stage - and immediately went to give Dec a hug. Fighting back tears, Ant told the crowd: "Oh god, I'm really, really emotional now. I've missed you all." He turned to his BFF and added: "As for you! I've missed you." Ant went on to thank the crowd for the "lovely welcome" back to Britain's Got Talent.  https://twitter.com/davidwalliams/status/1086305371843641349 He continued:

"What a great show to come back to. I'm thrilled, I'm over the moon. Shall we move on before I cry?"

According to the Daily Mail, Simon Cowell told Ant that the show hadn't "been the same" without him. He said:

“Ant welcome back. We missed you, it wasn’t the same. I mean even though Dec was brilliant, it still wasn’t the same. “It would be like me not being with David, I would be happy, but not happy - if that makes sense. So on behalf of all of us, welcome back, we’re family."

Earlier today, Ant and Dec were reunited for their first day of work together in ten months - and shared a selfie to celebrate. The lads posted the snap of themselves in the car on the way to the first day of Britain's Got Talent auditions to their joint Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsx0Rq_lc0S/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control "Audition day 1," they captioned the shot. "The boys are back in town!" Today's filming was Ant's first TV work since he was involved in a drink-driving incident last March. He crashed his Mini Cooper while driving more than two times over the legal drink-driving limit. He was suspended from driving for 20 months and handed an £86,000 fine as a result of the collision.