'Can't believe it!' Ant and Dec score first number one single 17 years after ditching music career

Ant and Dec have made it to number one in the iTunes chart after reviving their double act as PJ and Duncan for their Saturday night show. (ITV)

Television presenters Ant and Dec have topped the UK Singles Charts 17 years after their music career came to an end.

Their single, “Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble”, which the double act released when they were known as PJ & Duncan from children’s television drama Byker Grove, only reached number 9 in the charts when it came out in 1994.

But after the child actors-turned-television presenters performed it on their new prime-time show Saturday Night Takeaway last week nostalgic fans have downloaded the single in droves taking it to the top of the iTunes charts within hours.

The single then went straight to number one in the official chart, knocking The Saturdays' "What About Us" featuring Sean Paul off the top spot.

The I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! hosts, full names Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have vowed to donate the profits to Childline.

The pair, who met as child actors, had a run of hits in the mid-1990s with nine of their songs hitting the top 40, but "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" was their only song to make the top ten.

The pair last night tweeted: "Thanks to you mental lot who downloaded the track. It's all down to you. We are no1! Still can't believe it! A #LetsgetreadytoRhumble"

Ant told ITV1's Daybreak programme this week they decided to perform the song again because they were short of an item for the show.

"We thought, well, we could possibly dust off the old baseball caps, and give it a go, for a laugh," he said.

"The production team on Saturday Night Takeaway went mad, 'oh yeah, we remember that song, let's do it'."

The pair even donned their old trademark oversized shell suits and trainers and performed their old dance routine.

Dec said: "We did a little bit of rehearsal on Thursday, we had four hours in our schedule, to rehearse the dance.

"We spent an hour, and it all came back to us. We've obviously done it so many times in the past."

Justin Timberlake continues to dominate the UK album charts with The 20/20 Experience still at number one. The singer fended off stiff competition from 80s rock band Depeche Mode who achieved the highest new entry at number two with the Delta Machine.

They pushed David Bowie's album The Next Day, his first new material in nearly a decade, down to number three.