Simon Cowell sees Ant and Dec as his "younger brothers" after years of working alongside them.
The music mogul will team up with the co-hosts on his new show ‘Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions’, and he looks upon the pair – who have presented ‘BGT’ since it began in 2007 – as family after working with them for so long.
He said: "I love having the lads on the show, Ant and Dec are like my younger brothers, that’s how I look upon them now.
"We started doing all this years ago together and we’ve been through so much over the years."
Simon also praised his fellow panellists Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, admitting the former has been "the most loyal, easy to work with person" since she first started on the show in 2007.
He added: "Amanda has been with us right from the beginning and she’s been the most loyal, easy to work with person, genuinely, that we’ve ever had, I think.
"No drama, no demands, no this, no that, she just turns up, does her thing, loves the acts and is a great ambassador for the show.
"Alesha has been amazing! She could have been putting her feet up but came to work instead. She’s incredible and we’re all really happy for her and her family."
And Simon joked fellow ‘BGT’ judge David Walliams still loves being the "centre of attention" of the show – even when he presses his golden buzzer.
He said: "David is David! He just loves being the centre of attention.
"He’s like all comics, you know, they live for that attention. You’ll never ever change him. As annoying as he is if he wasn’t there, I think you’d miss him.
"But you know what? Even if he’s got the golden buzzer he’s parading up and down in front of the audience and I’m like, ‘When you press your Golden Buzzer it doesn’t mean it’s for you, you give somebody else the attention,’ which he just doesn’t understand because it’s always all about him."
Simon Cowell: Ant and Dec are like my younger brothers
