The I'm A Celebrity host and his wife-to-be are currently in Australia, where they got engaged
I'm A Celebrity host Declan Donnelly is engaged to his TV manager girlfriend Ali Astall.
The Geordie telly favourite, 39, one half of ITV’s biggest stars Ant and Dec - with best pal Anthony McPartlin, 38, popped the question in Australia over the weekend to fiancee Ali, who has joined him for his month-long stint in the jungle on ITV1 show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Dec, worth an estimated £30million, has been dating blonde Ali, 35, for a year and a half.
Their relationship soon became serious, with Ali moving in with Dec’s home, in west London, at the beginning of the year.
Ali has been Dec and Ant’s talent manager for more than a decade but they only started dating last spring.
Friends say the smitten couple are keen to walk down the aisle next summer and concentrate on starting a family. They already have a dog together called Rocky.
A source told the Mirror: “Dec and Ali are completely besotted with each other.
“They have been best friends for a long time.
“Dec soon realised that the he’d met the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and felt ready to settle down.
“They’re keen to start a family and want to get hitched next year.
“Friends and family are delighted and see that they’re taking the next step as they’re perfect for each other.”
Speaking about the romance earlier this year Dec admitted that there was always something between him and Ali: “I think we’ve always been attracted to each other but it has always been that thing of we work together. This is the first time we’ve given it a try. We always hung out. When she was single and I was single we’d go out for dinner on Valentine’s night together because we didn’t have partners.
“This year we went out as couple.”
He added: “I’d like to get married one day.”
Dec has also hinted that their eventual union last year was a low-key affair.
He said: “It’s going good. Everything’s hunky-dory. It was a little strange because we’ve had a working relationship for so long. But because it just happened there was no big ta-da.”
The couple get on swimmingly with Ant McPartlin, who is set to be the best man, and his make-up artist wife Lisa Armstrong, 38, who wed in 2006.
Speaking in the summer Ant gushed: “We’re a happy foursome and close. I work each day with my best mate.”
Dec was previously linked to former Pussycat Doll and I’m a Celeb contestant Ashley Roberts, 33, last year, and dated Sky Sports presenter Georgie Thompson, 37, for two years before splitting in 2011.
Before that he was in an 11-year-relationship with his childhood sweetheart actress Clare Buckfield, 38, who starred in the sitcom 2point4 Children, before they separated in 2003.
