Ant McPartlin was brought to tears as he returned to TV screens with a bang on Saturday night and joined Declan Donnelly in pressing their golden buzzer for a Britain’s Got Talent act.
Magician Marc Spelmann, from north London, wowed Ant and Dec with his emotional trick, which also featured a Rubik’s cube, crayons, and his wife’s favourite book.
In a heartfelt moment, Spelmann said the real magic was the birth of his daughter, who was born through IVF, as he shocked the audience with the elaborate trick which involved a video of the youngster matching choices the judges had made.
In the scenes filmed in January, Ant and Dec ran out from the side of the stage to press the golden buzzer, sending Spelmann straight through to the live semi-finals.
The TV duo were united on screen for the first time since Ant was charged with drink-driving in March and stepped down from his TV commitments.
The presenter was seen laughing and dancing in the episode, and was close to tears as Spelmann’s trick played out.
“You got me in tears, man – remarkable,” Ant told the contestant.
He is expected to be seen throughout the auditions, which run to the end of May, but will be absent from the full week of live shows.
ITV confirmed this week that Dec will be hosting the live shows solo after he presented the final two episodes of the duo’s Saturday Night Takeaway without his TV partner of almost 30 years.
The pair have fronted BGT since its inception in 2007 and saw an escapologist, a gospel choir and a dance troupe set up by Diversity star Ashley Banjo all make it through in Saturday night’s episode.
Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden returned as judges.
Meanwhile, an acrobat who was labelled “boring” by Cowell prior to his audition redeemed himself, according to Walliams, who called it the “most thrilling two minutes we’ve ever had on Britain’s Got Talent”, and made it through to the next round.
McPartlin was charged by postal requisition on March 21 after allegedly being involved in a collision with two other cars while he was driving his Mini in Richmond, west London, on March 18.
The TV presenter was due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on April 4, but the hearing was adjourned to April 16, a spokeswoman for the court said.
Britain’s Got Talent returns on ITV next Saturday.