I’m A Celebrity host Ant McPartlin has spent some quality time with his baby son Wilder in Australia after he kicked off the first episode of the 2024 series alongside Declan Donnelly

Ant McPartlin has been seen for the first time with his baby son Wilder in Australia as he celebrates his 49th birthday.

The I’m A Celebrity host enjoyed some time away from filming to enjoy quality time with his son as he cradled him while on a scenic walk. The Geordie TV presenter sweetly cuddled little Wilder after admitting that he was sad to leave his family for the jungle.

Ant cradled baby Wilder on the scenic walk ( 
Image:
REACH PLC)

The I’m A Celebrity host is celebrating his 49th birthday in Australia ( 
Image:
REACH PLC)

Ant and his long-time collaborator Declan Donnelly, 49, stunned fans when they quit their weekend show Saturday Night Takeaway after 20 years on the air. At the time, Ant said he was quitting the show in order to spend more time with his family – and now a report has suggested he is feeling “sad” about having to leave his infant son at home while he spends time in Australia for I’m A Celeb hosting duties.

The star has been married to wife Anne-Marie Corbett since 2021 and earlier this year they welcomed their first child together, their son, Wilder. Taking to social media at the time, proud dad Ant wrote: “Welcome to the family, Wilder Patrick Mcpartlin. Born, 14/05/24 at 8.54 am. Baby is beautiful, Mummy’s a legend, Sisters are over the moon. Dad’s a mess!” He shared the news alongside a snap of the baby cuddling up to him.

Last week, a new report suggested Ant is feeling hugely homesick in Australia after being forced to leave Anne-Marie and Wilder behind. A source toldOK! Magazine:“Ant is feeling really emotional about being so far away from Anne-Marie and Wilder. It’s the longest he has left them for and it’s going to be so difficult.”

Last year, Ant and his co-star Dec shocked fans when they announced the 2024 season of Saturday Night Takeaway would be their last as they wanted to scale back the amount of work they did to spend more time with their families.

Ant McPartlin walks with his new baby along the dunes in Australia on his 49th birthday ( 
Image:
REACH PLC)

Ant looked protective of his son as he walked in the blazing sunshine ( 
Image:
REACH PLC)Dropping their bombshell news in an Instagram post, Ant began: “We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath.”

In a subsequent interview with Fault magazine, Ant hinted he wanted to spend more time with his family, telling the publication: “On a more personal level, part of the reason we’re pausing Takeaway is we need a break ourselves, and we need to spend some time with our family.

“We’ve both got children that we need to spend time with for a little bit. We need time to think and, and time to step back and look at the bigger picture and just see where we are now.”

It comes as ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! fans slammed the show during the opening episode of the 2024 season as a technical issue left many unable to vote.

Ant and Anne-Marie welcomed baby Wilder earlier this year ( 
Image:
antanddec/Instagram)

The couple tied the knot in 2021 ( 
Image:
GC Images)
Sunday night saw a string of stars including WAG Coleen Rooney, McFly star Danny Jones, Dancing On Ice judge Oti Mabuse and N-Dubz icon Tulisa Contostavlos enter the jungle for the first time. As an initial trial, the original ten participants were divided into pairs and tasked with racing to the camp.

Tulisa and Coronation Street star Alan Halsall were the first to reach camp making them winners of the first trial and exempt from the first public vote which would determine which celebrities would take part in the Vile Volcano challenge. But when voting opened, many viewers found they were unable to vote as an apparent technical issues spoiled the fun.

Fans took to social media to complain about the error, with one writing on X: “It wont let me votee #ImACeleb” along with a crying face emoji. Another complained: “Omg is anyone else’s voting crashing because we’re all rushing to vote for GK Barry…#ImACeleb.” And a further fan wailed: “Is the voting app thing not working for anyone else? #imaceleb.”

Others were fuming about the amount of personal information they had to share to use the app, with one lashing out atITVto type: “F**KING HELL IVE DOWNLOADED THE APP WHY DO I NEED TO PUT IN MY PHONE NUMBER TO VOTE #ImACeleb.”