Ant McPartlin has described the origin story of Saint Valentine as “the best one yet” during a discussion with Declan Donnelly on their new podcast, Hanging Out with Ant and Dec.
The episode, released on Thursday, saw the TV duo explore the Christian roots of Valentine’s Day.
Asked whether he knew the story behind the celebration, Ant admitted: “No!” Dec then launched into the traditional account of the third-century saint.
“So the story goes that he was a priest or a bishop right around the third century under the rule of Claudius II,” he explained, describing an emperor who “was trying to stamp out Christianity.”
Dec added that Claudius wanted young men to join his army and “didn’t want them to be married, because he said married soldiers make bad soldiers because they’re too worried about their spouses.”
“He tried to outlaw marriage amongst young men so they would join his army and become his soldiers,” Dec continued. “So St Valentine secretly used to marry young men with women, amazing backstory, and he got jailed for it.”
While imprisoned, Dec explained that Valentine shared his faith with his jailer.
“He talked to his jailer, who had a huge family, 40-odd people in his family, and he talked about Christianity. And the guy said, ‘Well, if God really does exist, if Jesus exists… I’ve got a blind daughter, you could make her see. And if you do that, I will convert to Christianity. And all of my family.’”
Donnelly said Valentine performed a miracle.
“So he brings the girl, makes her see again, performs a miracle. She sees. He converts his whole family to Christianity, which absolutely peeves off Claudius the Second, and he sentenced him to death. And he was executed on the 14th of February.”
He added that, according to tradition, Valentine wrote a message to the jailer’s daughter before his execution, signing it: “From your Valentine.”
“As origin stories go, that’s the best one yet,” Ant responded. “They should make a movie of that.”
Dec, who was raised in a Catholic home and whose late brother Fr Dermott Donnelly served as a priest, said he has long been fascinated by the lives of saints.
"Every saint has a story about how they became a saint,” he said.
When Ant jokingly asked whether he had “a book at home with the saints”, Dec replied: “Yes.”