Ant and Dec reprise their roles as PJ and Duncan in new £2m Santander deal

Ant and Dec have reprized their Byker Grove as PJ and Duncan in a new £2m Santander deal. Longtime friends met on the show in 1993.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have reprized their teenage PJ and Duncan roles in a new £2m Santander ad campaign for the couple.

The legendary TV duo, both 46, met on the set of ITV’s children’s show Byker Grove in 1989 at the age of 12 and have enjoyed a stellar television career ever since.

Dressed in the ’90s brand’s baggy outfits, the stars were spotted riding Antandec-branded bikes (a pun on Santander) in West London. They also wore baseball caps and matching backpacks typical of the time.

The Geordie duo have been a key part of the bank’s television commercials for three years, in a previous deal believed to be worth £1m each.

The pair played PJ and Duncan until the fifth series, which was recorded in 1993. It was during that series that the two characters formed a band and signed a recording contract. After leaving the show, they signed with a real person and released their successful debut album, ‘Psyche’ still under their Byker Grove pseudonym.

Listens to the record have sold over 300,000 copies in the UK, including ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble’, ‘If I Give You My Number’ and ‘Eternal Love’.

‘Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble’ was leased back to life for a second time in 2013, while peaking at number one in the UK singles chart after the pair performed it on the food show. their guest, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

The bank’s customers may not see the funny side, however, after the bank revealed in April that it would cut branch opening hours from July in what the bank said was a response. with long-term trends in customer behavior.

These changes mean that branches will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, instead of until 4:30 p.m. The bank said branch staff will remain available for scheduled meetings between 3pm and 5pm, should customers need assistance that cannot be provided through alternative channels or earlier. during the day.

The bank said the number of customers using its branches fell by a third (33%) in the two years before the coronavirus pandemic and increased by another 50% in 2020 and 12% in 2021.

Richard Owen, head of branch at Santander, said: “These changes will allow us to maintain our existing branch network while also providing significant additional capacity to help customers who want to talk to us by phone.

“We’ve seen branch usage continue to decline for several years, both before and since the peak of the pandemic, with many customers preferring to transact digitally or contact us by phone.

“We want to make sure we have the right mix of channels to help our customers no matter what they choose to bank with us.”

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