One half of star TV duo Ant and Dec, Declan Donnelly bought his family home in a leafy West London suburb back in 2006 for £1.9m. It has since tripled in value. But the road hasn’t been without its bumps.
Nor have the Geordie presenter duo’s respective careers. They once had an “ugly” row that got physical, and threatened to derail their ascendency. In 2008, a man tried to sue them for millions for allegedly ruining his career.
And after the passing of Dec’s brother in 2022, he said the world had been left a “slightly worse place”. It wasn’t long before his death that BGT presenter Dec’s home was targeted by burglars while they slept.
Family home of Declan Donnelly targeted by criminals
In April 2021, reports emerged that Declan Donnelly’s family had been the victims of an attempted burglary in West London.
They were completely unaware it had happened until the morning, The Sun reported at the time. They slept right through it.
The paper quoted the Met Police as saying they were “called at approximately 00:40hrs to reports of an attempted burglary at a residential property”.
“Officers attended. The suspects had left the scene prior to police arrival. There was no evidence that they had gained access to the property.
“Inquiries are ongoing. At this early stage, there have been no arrests.”
A source told the paper that the robbers had failed to force open the gates, and that’s what made them give up. They fled within minutes of the police arriving.
The seven-bedroom Chiswick house was worth £5m at the time
Dec bought the property in 2006 for £1.9m. Between then and 2021, its value went up to around £5m. In the years since, it has continued to soar, and reports put its current value at £7m.
The day after the attempted break-in, per the Mail, a locksmith was seen fixing the iron gates outside the home, reinforcing its security.
Ant McPartlin used to live on the same road in West London. He and Dec bought their respective houses in the same year. However, Ant has since moved out, after separating from his ex-wife Lisa Armstrong. He moved to Wimbledon in 2019 with his partner Anne-Marie Corbett.
Two years after the attempted burglary, Dec bought the property next door to his and Ali’s family home. Per Hello! magazine, he then spent £2 million converting it into flats.
BGT is on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1.
Read more: Eye-watering amount Declan Donnelly earned per day while presenting solo without Ant McPartlin
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