If you have searched “Who Is Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly?” expecting a career and a net worth, here is the honest answer first: there isn’t one. Jack is a young child, born in July 2022, and the second child of TV presenter Declan Donnelly — the Dec of Ant & Dec — and his wife and manager, Ali Astall. He has no job, no public profile of his own, and his parents have gone to real lengths to keep it that way.
So why do thousands of people look him up every month? Mostly it’s the name. “Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly” is unusual enough to send people digging, and the two middle names carry genuine meaning — one a tribute to a best friend, the other to a grandfather Jack never met. This is the clearest, best-sourced rundown we could put together of who he is, where the name comes from, and how he fits into one of Britain’s most private famous families.
Who Is Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly?
Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly is the son of Declan Donnelly and Ali Astall, born on 23 July 2022. He is the couple’s second child and their first son; his older sister, Isla, arrived in 2018.
Set your expectations here: Jack is a private toddler, not a celebrity. He has never given an interview, appeared on screen, or been photographed in a way that clearly shows his face. Everything genuinely known about him comes from a handful of official announcements and one or two paparazzi sightings.
One quick point of confusion worth clearing up. Search “Jack Donnelly” and you’ll also find a British actor of the same name, known for the fantasy series Atlantis and Wanderlust. That Jack Donnelly is a grown adult with an acting career and is not related to Declan Donnelly. If you came looking for Dec’s son, this is the right page.
Early Life and Background
Jack was born in the summer of 2022 in the North East of England, where the Donnelly and Astall families are rooted — Declan himself is a proud Newcastle native, the youngest of seven children. Dec announced the birth with a rare photograph and a short, heartfelt message, calling his son “a very welcome ray of light” for the family.
That phrase carried real weight, because the timing was bittersweet. Jack was born just over two weeks after the death of Declan’s older brother, Father Dermott Donnelly, a well-loved Catholic priest in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, who died in July 2022. Grief and joy arrived almost together, and Dec has spoken since about how much the new arrival meant against that backdrop.
What the names Anthony and Alphonsus mean
The middle names are the part most people are actually searching for, and they are genuinely touching once you know the story:
- Anthony — a tribute to Declan’s lifelong best friend and co-host, Anthony “Ant” McPartlin. The two have worked side by side since they were teenagers on Byker Grove, and naming his son after Ant is about as strong a statement of that bond as you’ll find.
- Alphonsus — a tribute to Declan’s late father, Alphonsus Donnelly, who died in 2011. It’s an old, Irish-rooted family name, and passing it down keeps Dec’s father present in the next generation.
Put together, Jack’s name honours the two men who shaped Declan most: the friend he built his whole career with, and the father who raised him.
Family Life: Parents and Sister
To understand Jack, it helps to see the family around him, laid out plainly.
| Relation | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Father | Declan Donnelly, OBE — half of Ant & Dec, presenter of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, Britain’s Got Talent and Saturday Night Takeaway |
| Mother | Ali Astall — talent manager who has represented Ant & Dec for years; married Declan in 2015 |
| Sister | Isla Elizabeth Anne Donnelly, born September 2018 |
| Grandfather (namesake) | Alphonsus Donnelly, Declan’s late father |
| Namesake | Anthony “Ant” McPartlin, Dec’s best friend and co-host |
Declan Donnelly needs little introduction to a UK audience. With Ant McPartlin he has fronted Saturday-night television for the best part of three decades and picked up an armful of National Television Awards along the way. He was appointed OBE in 2017 for services to broadcasting and entertainment.
Ali Astall is less of a public face by design. She worked as Ant & Dec’s manager long before she and Dec became a couple; the two got engaged in 2014 and married in County Durham in August 2015. If you want the fuller picture of her career and how the relationship came about, our profile of who Ali Astall is covers it in detail.
Jack’s big sister, Isla, was born in September 2018 and, like her brother, is kept firmly out of the spotlight. By all accounts the family lives a deliberately low-key life away from the cameras when Dec isn’t working.
Rare Public Appearances
Here’s the reality of “public appearances” for a child whose parents guard his privacy: there are only a few confirmed moments on record.
- The birth announcement (July 2022). Declan shared a single photograph and message confirming Jack’s arrival — the same approach he took with Isla in 2018, one careful image rather than a photo spread.
- Heathrow Airport (December 2023). Jack was pictured being carried through the terminal, and the detail that caught everyone’s eye was his vibrant red hair — the closest thing to a public “sighting” the family has allowed.
- Dec’s own words. On the rare occasions he talks about fatherhood, Declan describes it as the thing that’s changed and grounded him most. That emotional throughline — a famously private man clearly besotted with his kids — is a big part of why fans keep searching for updates.
What you won’t find are clear, face-on photographs of Jack, and that’s the point. The Donnellys have made a consistent, deliberate choice to shield both children’s faces from the wider media, which is exactly why so many searches for him come up short.
Latest Updates
As of 2026, Jack is around four years old. There have been no major new public sightings since the 2023 airport pictures, and nothing has changed about the family’s stance: the children stay private, and Declan continues to keep his working life and his home life firmly separated.
Declan, meanwhile, remains one of the busiest presenters on British television alongside Ant McPartlin, with the pair’s staple shows continuing to anchor ITV’s schedule. If Jack ever appears in the public eye again, expect it to be on the family’s terms — a single chosen photo, not a media event.
For more on the world Dec works in, our regular coverage of who left the jungle last night tracks I’m a Celebrity, the show he has hosted for over two decades. And if you enjoy these clearly-sourced celebrity family rundowns, our profiles of Michael McIntyre’s wife and Michael Ball’s wife take the same honest, no-guesswork approach.
The Bottom Line
Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly isn’t famous for anything he has done — he’s a small child — but the story behind his name genuinely is worth knowing. It ties together Declan Donnelly’s closest friendship, the memory of his late father, and a birth that brought light to the family in a very hard month. That’s the real answer to who he is, and it’s more meaningful than any invented “career” a template would try to give him.
FAQs
What is Jack Anthony Alphonsus Donnelly famous for?
He isn’t famous in his own right — he’s a young child. He’s known simply as the son of TV presenter Declan Donnelly (of Ant & Dec) and his wife Ali Astall, and for the meaningful story behind his middle names.
Why is Jack Donnelly’s middle name Anthony?
Anthony is a tribute to Declan Donnelly’s lifelong best friend and co-host, Anthony “Ant” McPartlin. The pair have worked together since their teens, and the name marks that bond.
What does Alphonsus mean in Jack Donnelly’s name?
Alphonsus is a family name honouring Declan’s late father, Alphonsus Donnelly, who died in 2011. It’s passed down through the family as a tribute to Jack’s grandfather.
When was Jack Donnelly born and how old is he in 2026?
Jack was born on 23 July 2022, making him around four years old in 2026. He is the second child of Declan Donnelly and Ali Astall.
Does Jack Donnelly have siblings?
Yes. He has an older sister, Isla Elizabeth Anne Donnelly, born in September 2018. Both children are kept out of the public eye by their parents.
Is this the same person as actor Jack Donnelly?
No. Actor Jack Donnelly, known for Atlantis and Wanderlust, is an unrelated adult with an acting career. Declan Donnelly’s son is a young child and not a public figure.
