Ant and Dec lost 1.2m when trying out their new game show

Ant and Dec lost £1.2 million when they played their own game show.

The presenting pair will return to TV this weekend with new programme 'Ant and Dec's Limitless Win', in which contestants don't have a cap on the amount of money they can go home with, and when the duo tried out the format they got up to £1.2 million in prize money before losing the lot.

Dec said: "It’s 10 years since we launched a show. It’s been a while and we weren’t really looking for a show, but last year we had no 'Britain’s Got Talent' because of COVID.

"We did it as contestants, we played it and tried it."

Speaking on 'Lorraine', Ant added: "We played it and got up to £1.2 million up the ladder, but we got a rush of blood to the head and

kept answering too quickly and we lost."

Last month, the pair said they had sleepless nights worrying that they might bankrupt ITV with their new game show.

Ant explained: “We had sleepless nights beforehand and we thought, 'Are we gonna bankrupt ITV'? Because there is no limit on what you can win.

"ITV boss Kevin Lygo was sweating when we pitched it. Then we had contestants playing and you’re like, ‘How high will they get? £5 million in one go?’. The answer was, ‘Yes’. They were braver than I thought."

Dec revealed that after they pitched the show, the duo thought ITV may have to cancel other daytime favourites as a result.

He joked: "We said, 'If it comes to it, can we cancel 'Tipping Point' and 'The Chase'?'

"It's exciting as people could win £5 million. But we are OK at the moment."