Ant McPartlin is "happier" than he's been in years

His pal Simon Hargreaves shared a photo of them together on Twitter and wrote: "Long overdue catch up with my buddy of 20+ years for lunch this week. 6 months sober, annoyingly healthy looking, and happier than I've seen him in years.

"Immensely proud of this lad for his strength and determination to face up to his issues and get help."

Ant retweeted the post and replied: "Thanks pal. Really appreciate it. Lovely seeing you too.

"It really was long overdue. #weloveagoodlunch Hope you're using your Jcrew tote bag!(sic)"

ITV recently confirmed Ant will not co-host 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' with Declan Donnelly this year, and their show 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway' will be rested until 2020.

Ant said in a statement: "My recovery is going very well and for that to continue having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off.

"I'd like to thank both Dec and ITV for their continued support and I look forward to getting back to work in the new year."

Dec added: "Whilst I am obviously sad at the thought of being without my best friend in Australia this year, I am proud of the work Ant has been doing privately and I am fully supportive of his decision.

"I'm looking forward to us both being reunited on screen in 2019."

But the pair have vowed to bring 'Saturday Night Takeaway' back "bigger and better than ever" in 2020.

A statement on their joint website read: "Neither Ant & Dec nor ITV wanted to compromise the quality of the show and therefore felt it was better to rest the series next year.

"They will instead bring the show back in 2020, bigger and better than ever."