TV star Scarlett Moffatt has branded rumours of a fling between her and Ant McPartlin as “ludicrous” in an interview this weekend.
The 27-year-old Geordie said that McPartlin, who has recently been back in rehab for alcohol abuse problems, is like her “big brother”.
Speaking to the Mail’s You Magazine, Moffatt said: “This came about from a few tweets from random people with, like, two followers, and then some journalists turned those tweets into a story.
“That’s not a story. Ant is like my big brother. It’s so ludicrous it didn’t even warrant a response. Everyone who knows us knows how silly it is. I can laugh about it.”
McPartlin has had a very high-profile battle with alcohol, which came to a head last month when he crashed his mini while over twice the drink-drive limit.
He was banned from driving for 20 months and handed an £86,000 fine, and checked into a private rehab clinic soon after.
When asked how her fellow TV presenter was doing, Moffatt said: “Ant and Dec have been so good to me. They’re my mentors. I feel I owe it to them to try not to talk about them. Out of respect.
“They are such genuinely nice people. I wish I could tell everyone how amazing they are, though.
“Stephen Mulhern and I were there to lend a hand to Dec, he did most of the work,” she said.
“We were excited we could fulfil the promise to all the people who won the chance to go to Florida for the final show. The Takeaway team is like a big family. Everyone who works on the show loves Ant and Dec – so we pulled together to make it the best we could.”
Moffatt also opened up about the abuse she received over her fitness DVD, which was released in 2016.
Much of the controversy revolved around rumours that the exercise plan promoted in the fitness video was not the plan she followed to go from a size 18 to a size 8.
The report claimed that Moffatt had actually gone to a Swiss fitness boot-camp and reduced her calorie intake to 700 a day, rather than the 1,200 claimed in the DVD.
The critics piled in, calling her regime a sham, and the abuse left Moffatt in tears.
“Oh my God, I’ve cried so much,” she said.
“I get why I was on the front of every newspaper. In a way, I’m almost relieved and hope we can turn it into a positive, start a conversation about the way we criticise and talk about women.
“All the news articles focus on how I look. They certainly don’t do that to men. Why aren’t we celebrating women’s achievements more? Women aren’t just an aesthetic shell.
“You only have to look at men’s magazine coverlines, such as How To Get Rich Quick, or Top Tips To Do This or That. Whereas for women, it’s often, Look Who’s Got Fat Again. It’s frustrating.
“I wish we could set up a Troll Club so they could all get together and chat. Because that’s what’s missing from their lives – someone to talk to. It makes me sad.
“Can you imagine how rubbish your life must be if what you look forward to is getting home from work to slag people off?”