Ant and Dec were chatting amongst themselves when the presenter Phillip Schofield walked onto the stage at the 02 Arena to announce the winners of this years lifetime achievement award.
Phillip read from the notes he had affectionately compiled about his two close friends who as yet didn't suspect a thing.
"I believe the warmth and empathy THEY show..." he emphasised the word 'they' noting that there was obviously more than one recipient "THEY"
"Towards charitable causes,their viewers and their deep friendship towards one another,are as great achievements as their countless and well deserved awards.The nation has taken them to their hearts.So many Congratulations on the first twenty five years of your successful careers and on your very special award tonight"
Dec was caught frowning in front of the cameras,he obviously had something ticking over in his mind.
'It couldn't possibly be me and Ant could it?' He thought to himself,although they certainly did fit Phillips description.
'Nah,that would be ridiculous' he decided as he listened intently 'lifetime achievement award?that's not for people like me and Ant'
Whoever Phillip was talking about,they did sound pretty amazing,that in turn made Decs insecurities convince him that there was no way Phillip was talking about them,no matter how many awards they had won over the years,he still found it hard to believe that they were so loved.
That's exactly what they were though.
They were loved,adored and admired by fans all over the United kingdom and even from some other countries around the world.
After Phillip finished reading from his sheet of paper,he folded it up neatly and linked to fellow presenter Dermot o'Leary,who was down amongst the audience members,Dermot was the unfortunate guy who often lost out to Ant and Dec for the best presenter award,he always took it in good spirits though.
"So Dermot" Phillip said "any ideas as to who it might be?"
"No idea at all" Dermot fibbed playfully.
He leaned towards two ladies sat in the audience "do you have any ideas who it is?"
Ant and Dec suddenly realised they'd well and truly been had as they saw that Dermot was actually talking to their Mams.
"They're our lads" Christine replied to Dermot "Ant..."
She then nodded towards Decs beloved mother.
"And Dec" Anne finished the sentence.
The cameras caught every moment of Ant and Decs stunned surprise as a montage of their television highlights and tributes from their close friends,stars of stage and screen and their mothers were beamed around the 02 on large screens.
Unfortunately for Ant,it was pretty obvious that he was using some pretty colourful language as the camera zoomed in on him and Dec.
"Shut up,shut up" he turned to Dec,still totally amazed at what was going on "fucking hell,what the fuck?what?" He opened his arms in a questioning type gesture.
He soon twigged that his reaction was being broadcast to the country and quickly covered his mouth before he said anything else he might regret.
So he and Dec sat back to enjoy the clips that were being shown and of course it wasn't long before they were both getting emotional.
They just couldn't believe this was happening.Dec would probably have pinched himself if the cameras hadn't been likely to pick it up.
Of course they were used to receiving awards,but this was something else,this was so special.
As they and the whole country finished watching the clips,Phillip announced "The lifetime achievement award goes to...Ant and Dec!"
The boys stood up,still in disbelief and hugged and kissed Lisa and Ali who were sat next to them,before making their way towards the stage.Ant took Decs hand as they climbed the few stairs and raised it in the air in a sense of triumph.
They then proceeded to make an emotional speech,thanking everyone they could think of.
"But most importantly" Dec continued as they were nearing the end of the speech "we couldn't have done it without each other,so..." he looked at his best friend tearfully.
"Yeah" Ant nodded in agreement,before looking into Decs tear stained eyes "Dec,don't...don't start that"
He pulled Dec in for a loving embrace,unfortunately only being able to use one arm as he was holding his award in the other hand.
"I love ya man" Ant told Dec through the sound of loud applause and cheering "I love you to bits"
They made their way off stage and back to their seats,still totally stunned as they hugged Lisa and Ali once again.
"Well done baby" Ali whispered into Decs ear "I'm so proud you"
"Did you know about this?" Dec asked suspiciously.
"Might have" Ali grinned and kissed Decs cheek before settling back to enjoy the rest of the show.
"What just happened?" Ant laughed at Dec as the after show party began.
"We won a lifetime achievement award apparently" Dec replied as he helped himself to four glasses of champagne and passed them to Ant,Lisa and Ali.
"Yeah,ya did" Lisa smiled.
"Well,I suppose you were in on this too?" Ant enquired while hugging his wife.
"Yep" Lisa announced proudly.
"I can't believe our Mams" Dec frowned "where are they?"
Just at that precise moment,Anne and Christine were escorted into the room to celebrate with their sons.
"There they are" Ant waved towards them to catch their attention "our sneaky Mams"
"Hello lads" Anne grinned.
"Hello Mam" Dec smiled as he embraced her "never expected to see you here"
Anne and Christine had in fact invited themselves down to stay with Ant and Dec for a few days.
As much as the boys were delighted to have them visit,they felt guilty that they would have to leave them while they attended the awards ceremony and had even suggested that they delay the visit until they perhaps had a rare few days free in the future.
Of course Anne and Christine had insisted it was no problem at all and they would just go out for dinner or something together.
Now Ant and Dec knew why they were so insistent on coming at that particular time.
"Well you stitched us up like a kipper this time didn't you?" Ant laughed.
"It wasn't easy to keep it a secret" Christine smiled "especially when you kept going on about the national television awards every bloody time I spoke to you"
"Well,I was excited" Ant grinned "it's always an amazing night out,especially if we win something"
"When don't you win something?" Anne mused.
"Don't jinx it Mam" Dec laughed "you're lucky we didn't spot you tonight though"
"It as like a military operation Declan" Anne laughed "we had to sneak in once you were in your seats"
Ant,Dec,Lisa,Ali,Anne and Christine spent the rest of the evening celebrating with all the other winners and celebrities who had attended the show,with Ant and Dec being repeatedly congratulated over and over again by anyone who managed to catch their attention.
They did cut the night short though as they noticed how increasingly tired their mothers were becoming,usually they would have celebrated until at least 3am,but they knew that wouldn't have been fair on their Mams.
"Time to call it a day I think" Dec smiled as he looked at his watch "it's gone midnight and looks like the old girls are flagging"
"Less of the old thank you Declan" Anne laughed.
"There's cars waiting to take us home whenever we're ready" Ant announced.
"Why don't you youngsters stay on and enjoy the party?" Christine suggested "we'll see you back at home"
"Youngsters?" Ali laughed "I've not been called that for a long time"
"Nah,it's fine" Dec replied "I'm ready to call it a night if everyone else is?"
They all nodded in agreement.So soon afterwards everyone was making their way back to Chiswick in two separate cars.
They all said goodbye to each other outside Decs house with affectionate hugs and kisses before making their way into the two separate homes and immediately falling into bed exhausted.
No one at Decs house could even be bothered to make a cup of tea,although it might have been a good idea considering the amount of champagne they'd all drank.
They all went to be bed feeling happy,contented and loved,it had certainly been a night to remember.
Unusually,Dec was the first awake the next morning,even though as the bedside clock displayed 10.15am,it wasn't particularly early.
He yawned and stretched before rolling over to face Ali who had been woken by his movements,but she didn't mind.She loved waking up to her boyfriends adorable face whenever she stayed over.
"Morning" she mumbled sleepily.
"Good morning sweetheart" Dec smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
"Ali?" Dec said.
"Hmmm?" She replied,struggling to open her eyes after the previous nights celebrations.
"Move in with me?" Dec stated hopefully.
"What?" Ali was now suddenly wide awake.
"Move in with me?" Dec repeated.
They both sat up in bed,propped comfortably against the pillows.
"Where has this come from?" Ali asked curiously.
"Well,you're here practically all the time anyway" Dec pointed out "so why not make it official?"
"We haven't been together that long though" Ali frowned "isn't it too soon?"
"Well,we've yearned for each other for years haven't we?" Dec laughed "so nothing can be too soon can it?"
"Probably not" Ali smiled.
"I know you're the one for me Ali" Dec told her affectionately for what seemed like the hundredth time "I want us to live together,like a proper grown up couple"
"What do you know about being grown up?" Ali teased.
"You weren't saying that last night were you?" Dec grinned proudly at the thought of his performance between the sheets the previous night.
"Alright you dirty dog" Ali laughed "you certainly found some energy from somewhere considering how tired you were"
"Yep" Dec smirked "I celebrated in style"
"Ok,let's do it" Ali stated suddenly.
"Really?" Dec replied excited "you'll move in?"
"Yes,I'll move in" Ali smiled.
"Great" Dec beamed "can't wait to get you out of that flat and here with me full time"
"Hey,I like my little flat" Ali frowned.
"Hasn't got a swimming pool though has it?" Dec giggled.
"No,it hasn't" Ali laughed "guess I'd better put it on the market then"
She hardly ever used her flat anymore anyway,so this made sense,why wouldn't she want to move in with the man she loved?It didn't take long for her flat in Brentwood to sell,so she was doing exactly that within just a few weeks.
"Welcome to your new home" Dec smiled as he and Ali clinked their wine glasses together "we're going to make so many happy memories here"
"Absolutely" Ali smiled "it's the perfect place to raise a family"
"And we will definitely be doing that one day" Dec agreed.
They both knew they wanted to have a family together eventually.Dec had finally found the perfect woman that he wanted to bear his children,but not yet,the time wasn't right,they weren't even married yet and he could just imagine his staunchly catholic Mams reaction should they have a child out of wedlock.
He knew marriage and kids would happen in the not too distant future,but for now he had his career to focus on once again and it never failed to carry on yielding surprises.
"A what?" Ant asked,slightly baffled,as he,Dec and Ali sat in a meeting with the Saturday Night Takeaway executive producers one day.
"A Saturday Night Takeaway tour" Saul,one of the producers repeated his idea.
"How will that work then?" Dec asked curiously.
"Well" Siobhan,another of the executive producers took over the conversation "it will be just like the live television show you do on Saturdays,except it will be to bigger audiences,you know proper arenas around the UK"
"I love it" Ant grinned.
"Let's do it" Dec nodded "it'll be amazing,haven't done anything like that for a long time"
"We've never done anything like that" Ant pointed out.
"Well,we went on tour as PJ and Duncan" Dec smiled.
"Don't remind me" Ant frowned "hopefully we'll have much bigger audiences this time"
"Yeah and less people throwing ashtrays at us" Dec replied "thank God for the smoking ban eh?"
"Yeah" Ant laughed,although he wasn't laughing inside as he still hadn't managed to give up his addictive habit,so the indoor smoking ban that came into place in 2007 in England still annoyed him slightly as he now couldn't smoke in any pub,bar or restaurant as well as arenas,like he had previously,but it was just one of those things he had to put up with,he couldn't argue with the law.
"So when will this tour happen?" Ali enquired.
"We were thinking of this summer and autumn" Siobhan replied "we've already started the ball rolling"
"Great" Ant and Dec replied in unison.
So that summer,the boys began their Saturday Night Takeaway tour of the United kingdom.
They were having the best time ever,performing silly sketches,songs and dances to their adoring audiences and inviting other celebrities to take part.
Being the nice guys they were,they always made time to meet some of their fans backstage and have their pictures taken with them,everyone was happy.
That was until one day when the boys were performing a complicated Irish dance routine with the Riverdance dance troupe that they'd worked so hard to learn.
As Ant and Dec performed the energetic dance perfectly,something was about to go wrong,much to Ants dismay.
Something that no one could ever have predicted and was about to change one of the duos lives forever.
As they finished the dance,Ant stamped his foot down a little too hard on the stage.
Then felt something snap painfully in his knee!