Ant and Dec
Ant McPartlin (L) has been married to Lisa Armstrong since 2006 - but he fears age may be affecting their chances of having children.

TV star Ant McPartlin has revealed that after three years of trying for a baby he and his wife Lisa Armstrong are struggling to conceive.

The 37-year-old presenter, best known as one half of the popular duo Ant and Dec, opened up about the couple's fertility issues and his fears that their age may now be against them.

"Lisa and I would love to have kids. We're trying. It's tougher than you think when you get a bit older," he told the Radio Times in a candid new interview with Declan Donnelly.

Opening up about his secret off-screen agony, the Geordie star insisted that hectic work commitments had previously got in the way of plans to start a family.

"We've wanted children for a while, but we're both busy," McPartlin revealed.

"We're on a break now, the first proper one for 15 years.

"So Lisa and I are trying for a baby...well, we've been trying for a little while so fingers crossed."

The 37-year-old Britain's Got Talent Host also slammed claims that he was holding out on becoming a father because him and Dec, who is still a bachelor, plan to live their lives in perfect unison.

"There's a rumour that we do everything together and I'm holding off having kids till Dec finds himself Mrs Right. I love that idea, but I'm afraid it's not true."

McPartlin and Armstrong tied the knot in front of close friends and family at a church in Taplow, Buckinghamshire in 2006. Donnelly was his best man.

The award-winning duo, who first appeared on TV as P.J. and Duncan in Byker Grove, enjoyed pop success in the 90's after launching their musical career under the name of the characters from the BBC drama.

They have since fronted shows including Pop Idol, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Britain's Got Talent after re-branding themselves as Ant and Dec.

Donnelly said: "People often ask what the secret of our success is, and I used to put it down to just something that happened, but reflecting on it, I think it's friendship.

"Ours is a career built on a friendship, not a friendship built on a career."