Ant and Dec have appeared to take a pointed swipe at Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield by reviving the controversy over the pair’s visit to see the late Queen lying in state.
The joke came during the latest episode of the duo’s podcast, Hanging Out With Ant & Dec, as they discussed wanting to see the Bayeux Tapestry amid the crowds attracted by its UK display.
Ant McPartlin said: “If anyone from the British Museum is watching this podcast in their downtime… I’d like to jump the queue.”
Declan Donnelly replied: “I’m not sure about TV presenters skipping queues. I don’t think that’s going to end well!”
Ant then joked about “scuttling down the side” and entering at the front, prompting Dec to add sarcastically: “Do you think that’s the end? Nobody’s gonna say anything about it.”
The exchange appeared to refer to the backlash faced by the former This Morning presenters after they were filmed inside Westminster Hall on September 16, 2022, while members of the public waited for hours to pay their respects to the Queen.
Willoughby and Schofield insisted at the time that they had been given official permission to enter as accredited broadcasters reporting for ITV, rather than joining the public queue. They said they had been escorted around the edges of Westminster Hall and had not filed past the Queen’s coffin. ([itv.com](https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-20/holly-and-phil-say-they-would-never-jump-the-queue-to-see-queen-lying-in-state?utm_source=openai))
In a statement broadcast on This Morning, Willoughby said the visit had been “strictly for the purpose of reporting on the event” and insisted: “Please know that we would never jump a queue.” ([itv.com](https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-20/holly-and-phil-say-they-would-never-jump-the-queue-to-see-queen-lying-in-state?utm_source=openai))
The explanation failed to quell the criticism, with a petition calling for the pair to be removed from the programme attracting more than 50,000 signatures. The estimated waiting time for mourners had reached at least 14 hours that day, according to contemporary reports. ([itv.com](https://www.itv.com/news/london/2022-09-16/david-beckham-joins-queue-for-over-10-hours-to-view-the-lying-in-state?utm_source=openai))
The row later became overshadowed by Schofield’s admission of an affair with a younger ITV colleague, which led to his departure from the broadcaster in 2023. Willoughby left This Morning later that year.
Hanging Out With Ant & Dec is the presenters’ unscripted podcast, launched in April 2026, in which they discuss their lives, revisit past experiences and respond to ideas from listeners. ([antanddec.com](https://www.antanddec.com/shows/view/hanging-out-with-ant-dec?utm_source=openai))
