Key insights:
- Celebrities now co-own – not just endorse – food brands.
- UK frozen food is booming, topping £8.5bn with double-digit growth.
- Bakery hits the sweet spot - low barrier, high repeat, mass appeal.
When Ant & Dec announce a new project, it usually means studio mayhem, primetime pranks or celebrity chaos in the Australian jungle. But their latest gig is a million miles away from the footlights.
The UK’s favorite double act has swapped the studio for the freezer aisle, becoming co-owners of The Northern Dough Co. – a fast-rising frozen bakery brand based in Lancashire. Its doughs – pizza, cookie and doughballs – are already in the freezers at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons across the nation. Through their production company, Mitre Studios, Ant & Dec will help shape the brand’s content and product development.
“I love making pizzas at home with my family and was already using Northern Dough Co. when we started conversations with Amy and Chris about working with them,” said Ant. “As soon as we met it was clear we had the same values and together we have some great ideas on how we can expand the business. It’s very exciting and we can’t wait to get started in our role as co-owners.”
Dec added: “We love the Northern Dough Co. ethos of celebrating the joy of eating at home and bringing people together. Whether it’s a pizza party with mates or a Saturday night in front of the telly with your granny, everyone can get stuck in and make delicious pizzas. We are excited to celebrate all things dough through our partnership and social content.”
This may sound like a quirky side project, but it reflects a much broader trend. More celebrities are investing in food – especially snacks and bakery – not just to endorse products, but to build them. From Selena Gomez’s horchata Oreos to David Beckham’s honey-powered fruit snacks and Nadiya Hussain’s supermarket cakes, fame is becoming a powerful lever in grocery.
Why bakery makes business sense for stars
Unlike alcohol, supplements or skincare, baked goods and snacks are low barrier, highly repeatable, and broadly appealing. They don’t require an education piece. They slot easily into baskets and routines. And crucially, they work at both ends of the market – indulgent or functional, premium or every day.
Celebrity involvement no longer stops at the billboard. These days, it’s about ownership and creative input. Ant & Dec are a perfect example: they’re not just the faces of the brand – they’re working directly with the founders to shape what comes next.
The Northern Dough Co. launched at farmers markets and food festivals but quickly picked up retail momentum by offering something simple and effective: frozen dough that gives home cooks a shortcut to restaurant-style pizza without the mess.
A category built on repeat appeal
Founders Amy and Chris Cheadle said the match with Ant & Dec felt natural from the start.
“It’s not everyday Ant & Dec’s team drop you a line to ask if you’d be interested in exploring working together,” said Amy. “But from the very first meeting it was clear just how well their personal values aligned with ours, and how easy it would be to partner and grow our business together.”
She added: “As viewers, we’ve been entertained by Ant & Dec’s TV shows from Byker Grove as teens, to watching Takeaway and I’m a Celeb with our own children. And it’s that ethos of getting everyone together to enjoy a relaxing, feel-good experience that’s at the heart of The Northern Dough Co. Gathering to eat food is everyone’s favorite pastime, but cooking together to create an informal restaurant experience at home makes it really special. We couldn’t be more excited that Ant & Dec have joined us to bring the experience to even more people’s homes.”
The timing is on point. Since 2023, more than half of UK households have cut back on eating out. Takeaways are no longer the default treat – they’re an expensive habit to justify. Instead, people are looking for ways to cook at home that still feel like an occasion. The Northern Dough Co.’s frozen range offers both ease and flair.
From pizza night to private equity
The frozen aisle is no longer a dusty corner of the supermarket. It’s become one of the fastest-growing categories in grocery, driven by demand for value, shelf life and low-waste solutions. Worth more than £8.5 billion in the UK alone, the frozen food category continues to outperform expectations, with double-digit growth across sectors like frozen bakery, desserts and meal kits. It’s also where innovation is happening, from flash-frozen sushi to gourmet garlic bread.
For brands like The Northern Dough Co., the momentum is already there. What Ant & Dec bring is visibility and a platform to grow faster.
Through Mitre Studios, they’ve worked on branded campaigns for Disney, TUI, Santander and Ring. The team knows how to blend entertainment with product messaging in a way that works across TV, digital and social.
The Northern Dough Co. plans to expand into new formats, scale up its DTC offering, and build on its growing national presence. Ant & Dec will play a hands-on role in that growth – not just by posting content, but by helping shape campaigns, pitch new ideas and potentially open doors to further investment.
Frozen food’s moment in the spotlight
The rise of celebrity-backed food ventures comes as consumer behavior shifts from novelty to necessity. While ultra-premium products have their place, the real opportunity lies in categories that combine everyday relevance with low consumer friction.
Bakery delivers on that. It’s nostalgic. It’s adaptable. And for many consumers, it’s comfort in an unpredictable world.
The Northern Dough Co. offers that kind of reassurance, but with a contemporary upgrade. It’s freezer-friendly, timesaving, and just indulgent enough to feel like a treat. In other words – ripe for expansion.
What sets this apart from other celebrity collabs is the balance. This isn’t dough for dough’s sake. It’s not a gimmick. It’s a strategic partnership between a brand with a clear retail position and two of the most trusted entertainers in the country.
By leaning into shared values – family, fun, food – the partnership hits the right tone. There’s warmth and accessibility, but also a business plan behind the humor.
And it helps that Ant & Dec aren’t new to food-focused content. Their social series Taste Mates – produced by Mitre Studios – runs on their Instagram, Facebook and TikTok channels, where each episode draws around 2.5 million views. The short-form, humor-led format sees the duo sampling quirky food trends, trying new cuisines and cooking (or at least attempting to) together in their trademark style. It’s proved the kitchen is a natural stage for their chemistry and that food can be a star vehicle beyond primetime.
The new rules of celebrity brand-building
Celebrities aren’t just aligning with trends, they’re driving them. But the ones that stick are the ones that commit. From Andy Murray’s partnership with Walker’s Shortbread to David Beckham’s BeeUp, the best examples are grounded in authenticity, timing and operational focus.
None of this works unless the product is good. And The Northern Dough Co. has built its reputation by getting that right. No frills. No fuss. Just good dough, frozen at peak freshness.
Now it’s ready to level up with a bit of help from two men who’ve spent the last 30 years figuring out what Britain likes to consume. As they might put it themselves – ready, steady, dough.