Business & Money

Ant and Dec in £10m deal

Ant and Dec are set to take a pay cut but will stay presenting with ITV, it has been reported.

The television duo are expected to sign a new two-year deal with ITV after their three year contract worth £17m expire this year.

Their new 'golden handcuff' deals will see them stay exlusively at ITV until at least the end of 2011.  

Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will reportedly take the 10% pay cut to stay with the channel, after originally fearing that their cut would be closer to 25% given the current economic climate.

Earlier in the year, Ant said: "If we're offered less, so be it. It's a tough time for everyone right now.

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"I want to make great shows and money comes after that."

Senior ITV figures claim the pair's salaries wouldn't receive drastic cuts because they remain a staple of ITV, consistently pulling in high ratings fronting 'Britain's Got Talent', 'Saturday Night Takeaway' and 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here'.

A source at the channel told The Sun: "Ant and Dec are part of the fabric of ITV and their success is our success.

"We are not the BBC, funded by the license fee payer, so don't have to justify big salaries of our stars."

ITV cut 1,000 jobs and lost an estimated £2.7 billion last year, as a result of decreased advertising revenue.