Stephen Mulhern's awkward turtle gift to Ant

It's no surprise to hear that Stephen Mulhern is good friends with Ant McPartlin, Stephen presents BGT spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent after all...

But their friendship may be on the rocks after Stephen - host of ITV's new Saturday night entertainment show Big Star's Little Star - bought his ITV colleague a dodgy present from the garden centre!

"It's been so hot recently, so I was looking for a fan, but couldn't find one anywhere," he explained. "I was in Homebase when Lisa - Ant's wife - called me saying she had a spare one in the basement and I could come and pick it up if I wanted." 

"As I was on the phone I saw this hideous garden ornament, it was a turtle with this silver ice cream as a shell - horrendous! So I got the man to wrap it up and took it round as a present to say thank you."

"I kept a very straight face as I was giving it to them, told them it wasn't anything special and they should open it once I'd gone. Two minutes after I drove off Ant sent me a text message saying 'Repulsive!' A part of me wished I'd been able to see his face when he opened it!"

But Stephen, who'll be hosting new ITV family show Big Star's Little Star later this month, also revealed that he was only retaliating after Ant attacked him at a party!

"I was at this party and Holly or Ant decided to give me a wedgie that ripped my boxer shorts. It was with some force!" 

"Holly's blaming Ant and Ant is blaming Holly, but I think I know who was responsible. Maybe I should get Holly back just to be sure - maybe I'll give her a wedgie live on This Morning!" 

Big Star's Little Star begins on Wednesday, September 4.

 

Sean Marland

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football.