Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have revealed that they nearly quit Britain's Got Talent as they felt they were being edited out of the programme.
The TV presenting duo share details of a heated meeting with show boss Simon Cowell in LA in their upcoming autobiography Once Upon A Tyne.
Unhappy with how the entertainment show was being edited and feeling that their contribution was not being reflected in the finished product, they flew to the states to meet Cowell.
McPartlin says they met at an Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, "And then we let him have it with both barrels.
"We told him everything - that we weren't being used, that we could be doing other stuff, that maybe someone else should take over.
"To be fair to Simon, he sat there, took it all and listened intently for four, maybe five cigarettes."
Donnelly adds: "He made a promise to us: that things would change and that we'd never feel like that again.
"He desperately wanted us to stay and we told him we'd do the next series and see how it went - and, to be fair to him, he was as good as his word, things did change."
Once Upon a Tyne is due for release on September 3
