"You're a brave girl" Dec smiled at Laurie as the teenager arrived at the studios one day to take part in the 'Beat the barber' challenge.

"It's worth it just to meet you two" Laurie grinned.

"Ah,flattery will get you everywhere" Dec winked.

"Everyone ready?" The floor manager came over to inform the trio that filming was about to commence.

"Yep,we're ready" Ant smiled "how about you Laurie?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" the smiling teenager replied.

"Wanna have one last look in the mirror at your luscious locks?" Dec joked,while nodding towards a mirror on the wall "might not see them again after today"

Laurie arose from her chair and glanced nonchalantly at her reflection.

"I'm ready" she shrugged.

"Ok,let's do this" the floor manager announced and Ant,Dec and Laurie all followed him to where the segment would be filmed.

Laurie took her place in the audience until the boys were ready for her.

With much good hearted teasing and egging on from the audience,filming was now underway.The kids were both astonished and amused in equal measures at Lauries predicament.

She had soon answered three questions correctly and each answer given gradually unveiled a part of a celebrities face.Ant was now ready to ask the final question.

"Who is this?" He enquired,as he pointed to the picture of a celebrity with a fake bald head.

"I don't know" Laurie replied,the hosts were surprised that she seemed genuinely unphased about what was about to happen to her.

"She doesn't know" Ant announced desperately,while burying his face in his questions card.

"Ahhhh" he cried out as the barber set to work,chopping off large chunks of hair from the willing participant.

"It's Jimmy Hill" Dec announced,referring to the picture of the sports commentator.

Once the programme had finished filming and the hairdresser had given Laurie a stylish new short haircut,Ant and Dec approached her for a chat.

"Well done Laurie" Dec smiled as he gave her a hug "you were brilliant"

"Yeah" Ant agreed "how do you like your new hair?"

"I love it" Laurie grinned.

"Good" Ant replied "thanks for being such a good sport,can't wait for this to be broadcast,the kids at home are gonna love it"

Ant and Dec said their goodbyes to the girl as David approached them.

"Bye Laurie and thank you" he called out as he watched Laurie head out of the building towards her surprised parents,who were waiting for her in the car park.

She turned back and gave a cheerful wave to the three men watching her leave.

"That was so brilliant lads" David said in his over pronounced camp voice "I knew the minute I came up with this idea that it would be a success"

"Yeah,alright Mr bighead" Dec laughed "it was a great idea ok?is that what you wanted to hear?or do you need your ego to be stroked a little bit more?"

"A little bit more would be very nice actually" David smiled "Anthony?"

"Yes David" Ant agreed "it was a very good,unique idea and you're completely amazing for coming up with it"

"Good,as long as we're all agreed on that?" David replied smugly,before turning around and walking off by taking exaggerated,confident strides.

"Such a twit" Ant laughed.

A few days later,on the Saturday morning,Ant and Dec were lounging in their pyjamas on the living room sofa,ready to watch the most recent episode of 'The Ant and Dec show'

"Can't wait for this" Ant announced as the opening credits started rolling.

They laughed and shouted at the television as the episode got into full swing.

"That girl" Dec grinned "I still can't believe she let us do that to her beautiful hair"

"Yeah" Ant smiled "ratings winner that was"

They spent the rest of the day on a high.They were having a rare weekend off and had decided to spend it just relaxing,watching telly and chilling,that was until they got a phone call from Mike the next day.

"What's up?" Dec enquired,sensing something wasn't quite right by the tone of their managers voice.

"The BBC are furious" Mike stated.

"What?why?" Dec asked surprised.

"They've had loads of complaints" Mike sighed.

"You've lost me Mike" Dec replied "complaints about what?I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"About your show" Mike continued.

"What about it?" Dec frowned "it's going great isn't it?"

"Well,it was" Mike replied glumly "until yesterday"

"You're gonna have to spell it out for me Mike" Dec sighed "I still have no clue what you're going on about?"

"The complaints were about the 'beat the barber' section,about that girl having all her hair cut off" Mike finally informed him.

"What?" Dec asked confused "but she was totally up for it,she applied for it after all and she loves her new hair"

"Yeah,try telling that to all the parents who were watching with their kids yesterday" Mike sighed "they're up in arms about it and think she was set up to fail"

"How the hell did we set her up to fail?" Dec enquired,now getting increasingly annoyed.

"Because not many fourteen year old girls would know who Jimmy Hill is,with or without his hair" Mike informed him "and it's going to be discussed on 'points of view' this week,so brace yourselves"

"Well,hopefully some people will have something nice to say and will realise it was just a bit of fun and we didn't actually kill anybody" Dec replied sarcastically,referring to the aforementioned ten minute programme where members of the public phoned or wrote in to give their opinions on various BBC programmes.

"Hope so" Mike mused "but don't get your hopes up too much,the BBC want to have a meeting with all three of us"

"Really?" Dec asked "when?"

"Tomorrow" Mike sighed "you'll be picked up at eight o'clock sharp,so make sure you're ready,but I'm afraid this isn't looking too good right now,they're really angry"

"Ok" Dec replied worriedly,before hanging up the phone and relaying what was said during the conversation to Ant.

"They're not gonna sack us just for that Decs,if that's what you're thinking?" Ant smiled "we'll probably just be told to tone it down a bit in future,our show is pretty popular amongst the kids,so they're not going to want to lose it are they?just because of a few irate parents"

"I guess" Dec replied sadly "we'll find out tomorrow"

When the next day came around,both of the boys were nervous about the meeting,although Ant was doing his best to not let it show,so he wouldn't make Dec even more anxious.

As they entered the boardroom,both Ant and Dec took a sharp intake of breath as they spied Sir Marmaduke Hussey sat at one end of the large oval table.They now knew this had to be serious if it had brought the chairman of the BBC out.

As they,Mike,David Walliams and a few of the top BBC executives took their places around the table,Ant and Dec both started to fiddle nervously with their fingers under the table.

"Anthony,Declan,Michael,David,welcome.Let's get straight to the point shall we?" Robert,one of the men in a smart pin striped suit announced sternly,making the four men feel like naughty schoolboys.

"Er..yes sir" Ant replied sheepishly.

"Well" Robert continued "I think everyone knows why we're here,Conor would you like to take it from here?"

"Sure" Conor,one of the executives replied obligingly while aiming his gaze towards ant and Dec "I'll try to keep this as brief as possible.So boys,you know by now about the complaints we've received about 'The Ant and Dec show' don't you?"

"Yes sir" Ant and Dec replied in unison.

"Well" Conor continued "I'm afraid this is too serious to ignore,so we've decided once you've finished filming this series,we will be cancelling the show"

"What?" Ant asked shocked "why?"

"We've told you why" Conor smiled sympathetically "there are too many people who thought you went too far with this 'Beat the barber' thing"

"But it's the number one childrens programme in the UK at the moment" Dec pointed out "kids love it,it's even won awards,so why would you cancel it?it doesn't make any sense"

"Too many complaints about that particular segment" Conor stated,while glancing at David "and to be honest,alot of your previous stuff has been a little bit close to the edge.This was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak"

"Yeah,complaints from the boring old parents" Ant replied "why do they matter?it's the kids that the show is aimed at"

"Because Anthony" Conor stated firmly "those boring old parents are the ones who pay for their TV licences,which in turn pays your wages,so they matter very much indeed"

Ant slunk back into his chair,not really having a valid argument for that statement.

"Anyway" Sir Marmaduke unexpectedly joined in the conversation "that's not all"

"No" Conor sighed "I'm afraid once the programme is wrapped up,we won't be renewing your contracts"

"You're firing us?" Dec asked with a tell tale quiver in his voice.He could feel those damn,unwelcome tears that often made appearances at the most awkward times,starting to well up once again,could there be a worse time for this to happen?in front of all these top dogs?

Ant placed a reassuring hand on Decs leg under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.The small,kind gesture made Dec feel a little calmer as he forced himself to take deep,steady,breaths.

"We're also ending our contract with you too Mr Walliams,for now at least" Conor stated with a guilty look about him.

"Hey ho" David smiled "all good things must come to an end,but I guarantee you'll be begging me to come back one day when I'm rich and famous" with that,he promptly got up from his chair and skipped out of the room,without even a glance back.

Ant and Dec couldn't help but giggle,although they wished they could take this as well as David had.

"Anyway" Conor carried on "everyone here agrees this is the right thing to do"

All the men in suits that were sat around the table nodded in agreement.

"So If there's nothing else anyone wants to add?" He glanced from face face "then we're all done here and I wish you well"

"There is one thing I'd like to add" Dec replied.

"Go ahead Mr Donnelly" Sir Marmaduke encouraged "what's on your mind?"

"Just that all of you will regret this" Dec announced confidently "you see, me and Ant have got what it takes.We're just finding our feet and getting into this presenting lark,but we've got alot more to give,you'll see,this was only the beginning and maybe,just maybe,one of the other channels would love to snap us up,did you think of that eh?and I'll bet they'll be willing to pay us a hell of alot more than you do too.We're gonna make the big time and be even more popular and successful than we are at the moment,but if you're willing to dump us then go ahead,us two who have been with you since our early teens for something we didn't actually have a say in,then so be it,but remember to look out for us in the future,because I promise you,you haven't seen the last of us"

"Ok Declan" Conor smiled,feeling slightly amused at Decs little outburst "I hope all your wishes do come true"

"They will" Dec stood up defiantly and made his way out of the room with Ant and Michael in tow.

"Umm...thanks" Ant muttered and gave a half hearted wave to the room.

"Confident little speech there Decs" Ant laughed as they were driven home after saying goodbye to Mike.

"Well,we can be big" Dec replied "don't you feel it too?"

"Yeah I do" Ant smiled,although he was never quite as confident as Dec when it came to their career.Dec had the admiral quality of being able to pick himself up and dust himself off after they received bad news,even though that was usually preceded by a temper tantrum that would make a two year old proud.Ant on the other hand worried endlessly,although he rarely let Dec in on that fact.

"Something else is gonna come along very soon,you'll see" Dec stated "and until it does,we've got the music and finishing the album to keep us occupied"

"Yeah we have" Ant smiled.

So after the bad news about their beloved show being cancelled,they threw themselves into working on the album,releasing singles and filming the accompanying videos and before long they were out on the road again, doing a string of gigs for their adoring fans.

The new album had been given the title 'The cult of Ant and Dec' and was a big hit with their audience.The boys new image also went down a storm and happily,Decs 'ginger' look had faded considerably.

As a chorus of love sick teenage girls sang along to one of their songs at a small,dreary venue,Ant stopped in his tracks briefly as a glass ashtray hit him hard on his left shoulder.

"Ow" he snapped and glared out into the audience to see where it had been thrown from,but he had no clue.There were just too many jealous boys accompanying their girlfriends,it could have come from any one of them.

Ant quickly took up the song where he'd left off after Dec had given him a desperate stare,but an almost full pint of beer then landed between them,soaking the bottoms of both of their trousers.

"Poofs" came a loud shout from one of the rowdy,drunken blokes in the audience as Ant and Dec took their final bow of the night.

"Let's get outta here" Ant mumbled,as they both gave a quick wave to the fans who had at least enjoyed their performance.

As they sat in the tiny dressing room,drying themselves off the best they could,Ant looked Dec squarely in the eye.

"Decs?" He said in a matter of fact tone

"Yes?" Dec replied,sensing Ant was about to say something important.

Ant shook his head sadly at his best friend.

"I'm really not enjoying this anymore!"