ListiclePodcastsEntertainment

Celebrity Podcasts That Still Work — And Why Ant & Dec Might Be One of Them

ssmash

2026-02-13

11 min read

Why some celebrity podcasts still break through — and how Ant & Dec can turn Hanging Out into a 2026 audio hit with chemistry, clips and community.

Hook: You're drowning in noise — here's a checklist that separates celebrity podcast audio hits from background clutter

Platform fatigue, endless algorithm churn and short attention spans have made it hard for celebrity-led shows to cut through. Audiences want two things in 2026: quick, authentic connection and content they can clip, share and come back to. That’s why a few celebrity podcasts kept growing in late 2025 and early 2026 — and why Ant & Dec’s new show could realistically join them. This piece maps the blueprint: the celebrity podcasts that still work, why they work, and a tactical launch playbook that would make Hanging Out with Ant & Dec a true audio hit.

The short list: Celebrity podcasts that succeeded recently (and the single lesson each one proves)

Below are eight high-profile shows — recent or enduring — that demonstrate the playbook celebrity creators should copy. For each I call out the core element that made it a win in 2024–2026's noisy market.

1. SmartLess (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes) — Relentless chemistry

Why it worked: SmartLess leans hard on the hosts’ decades-long rapport. The banter feels unscripted and intimate, and guests are invited into that comedic shorthand. Their editing favors long, meandering conversations that reveal private jokes and emotional beats — perfect for long-form listeners and shareable clips alike.

2. Armchair Expert (Dax Shepard) — Vulnerability as authority

Why it worked: Shepard’s blend of curiosity, self-effacing transparency and rigorous research created a trusted interview environment. The show trades celebrity polish for humility, which unlocks candid guest moments that fuel media stories and social clips.

3. Call Her Daddy (Alex Cooper) — Distinct voice + scale

Why it worked: Call Her Daddy carved a bold, unapologetic persona and leaned into it. The format — quick edge, personal stories, and audience Q&A — was tailor-made for younger listeners and social platforms, enabling enormous clipability.

4. Talking Sopranos (Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa) — Niche rewatch culture

Why it worked: This show demonstrated how celebrity-led podcasts can thrive by owning a cultural niche: rewatching a beloved series. The hosts’ inside stories and episode-by-episode structure gave superfans a reason to subscribe and return weekly.

5. Table Manners (Jessie Ware) — Sweet authenticity + format clarity

Why it worked: Making long-form conversation around food, family and friendship gave Table Manners a predictable, cozy format. The chemistry between Ware and her mother created a distinct personality that audiences could emotionally attach to.

6. WTF with Marc Maron — Longevity through reinvention

Why it worked: Maron turned vulnerability into a brand and continuously evolved distribution and production to remain relevant. His credibility in comedy and long-form interviewing kept him influential even as platform dynamics shifted.

7. The Michelle Obama Podcast — Eventized prestige

Why it worked: Big-name guests, editorial restraint and eventized release cycles made each episode feel like a cultural moment. Celebrity cachet + journalistic standards = high impact.

8. The Diary of a CEO (Steven Bartlett) — Curated relevance

Why it worked: Although not a traditional celebrity in entertainment, Bartlett demonstrates how a strong point-of-view and consistent quality attract a global audience. The show mixes personal candor with tactical business insights — an example of how niche, useful content outperforms generic celebrity chat.

What these winners have in common: the four pillars of successful celebrity podcasts

Across genres and markets the hits share repeatable mechanics. If Ant & Dec want to be an audio hit, they need to prioritize these four pillars.

Genuine chemistry — Listeners sense when hosts are performing. Ant & Dec’s lifelong bond is their superpower: quick callbacks, private jokes, and the ebb-and-flow of two friends who know each other deeply.
Clear content hooks — Every episode must promise a repeatable reason to listen: rewatching clips, answering audience questions, guest storytelling, or show-history deep dives.
Shareable moments — Long-form is fine, but shows that win in 2026 are optimized for short clips, vertical formats and TikTok/Twitter/X moments that funnel new listeners to full episodes.
Audience pathways — Successful shows convert passive listeners into engaged communities: Discord groups, live tapings, subscriber-only episodes, newsletters and merch.

Why Ant & Dec check the boxes — and where they’ll need to be surgical

Ant & Dec bring several built-in advantages that many celebrity podcasters don’t:

Massive cross-platform audience — Years on mainstream TV translate into huge discovery potential across demographics.
Iconic brand shorthand — Their playful persona is instantly recognizable, lowering the onboarding cost for new listeners.
Editorial flexibility — With the Belta Box brand, they can experiment with video, short-form, clips and repurposed TV archives.
Live show potential — Their television roots and UK fame make premium live tapings and ticketed events an obvious revenue engine.

But success isn’t automatic. The podcast market in 2026 rewards focus and novelty, not celebrity alone. Here are the key risks Ant & Dec must mitigate:

Late-to-market perception — Critics already point out the podcast landscape is crowded. The answer is distinct hooks, not more general chat.
Discoverability — Without an SEO-first metadata strategy and aggressive short-form distribution, even big names can struggle to reach younger audiences.
Format drift — If episodes lack structure, the show will underperform against more focused competitors.

“We asked our audience if we did a podcast what they would like it be about, and they said ‘we just want you guys to hang out’,” Dec said in a January 2026 press release about their new show Hanging Out with Ant & Dec.

Practical, actionable roadmap: how Ant & Dec should launch Hanging Out (first 12 episodes)

Below is a tactical, platform-aware 12-episode blueprint designed to build audience, feed social distribution and create monetizable moments.

Core structure for every episode (45–55 minutes)

0:00–3:00 — Cold open: a 20–40 second hookable anecdote that gets clipped to social.
3:00–10:00 — “This Week in Ant & Dec” — light, fast segment covering personal life + topical banter (easy clip fodder).
10:00–35:00 — Main slot: guest chat, listener question, or themed segment.
35:00–45:00 — “Behind the Clips” — they play a TV clip from their archive and tell the backstory.
45:00–55:00 — Close: audience interaction, signposting premium content.

12-episode first-season plan (high-level)

Premiere: Why we’re finally hanging out — origin story + best-tv blooper (big clip).
Studio Stories: a behind-the-scenes tale that went viral in 2005 — delivered like a long-form anecdote.
Guest: a fellow TV icon — deep-dive on career pivots.
Audience Q&A special — fans submit questions (community-building).
The Reunion — inviting a co-star for nostalgia and reconciliation moments.
Live taping (short) — ticketed event highlights + extra clips for social.
Special: “The Greatest TV Pranks” — listicle-style, high clip density.
Career Advice — actionable tips from Ant & Dec on longevity in showbiz.
Theme deep-dive — their top TV moments explained (archives + story-laden audio).
Behind-the-scenes: a production disaster turned triumph.

Distribution and discoverability playbook (real-world tactics)

Big-name hosts can still fall short if search and discovery are ignored. Here’s a prioritized checklist that aligns with 2026 platform behaviors.

1. Metadata and SEO

Episode titles: use strong, searchable hooks + guest names (e.g., “Episode 3: Reunion with [Guest] — The Story Behind the Finale”).
Transcripts on the show site and episode pages for keyword capture and accessibility.
Structured metadata tags for clips (topics, people, moments) to help algorithmic surfaces on platforms like Spotify and YouTube.

2. Short-form-first content engine

Create 3–5 vertical clips per episode (30–90 seconds) optimized for TikTok/Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
Prioritize one “instant-viral” hook clip and one emotional/nostalgic clip each week.

3. Community and live events

Host monthly live Q&As on YouTube/Twitter Spaces with ticketed VIP options.
Launch a listener newsletter with episode highlights and behind-the-scenes photos.

4. Monetization funnels

Ad reads for general episodes; premium subscriber-only minisodes (early drops, extended interviews).
Limited-edition merch drops tied to memorable lines or bits.
Partnered live tours — sell VIP experiences (meet-and-greet audio-first perks). Consider on-ramps and payments best practices in onboarding wallets for broadcasters.

Podcast chemistry: how to structure banter so it scales

Chemistry is a soft word — but you can engineer for it. Ant & Dec’s relationship is genuine; the trick is preserving spontaneity while designing moments to maximize audience engagement.

Use recurring segments to create predictable rhythms fans anticipate.
Leave space for mid-episode interruptions — a hallmark of authentic friendship that produces highlightable moments.
Prep three research-led questions per guest to guide depth without scripting the laughs.
Make editing choices that amplify warmth: keep small natural pauses and reactions in the final cut; resist over-polishing.

KPIs to track in the first 12 weeks

Measure the right things to learn fast and iterate:

Discovery: new unique listeners per week, organic search traffic to episode pages.
Engagement: average consumption rate (how much of an episode people listen to), clip plays, social interactions.
Conversion: newsletter sign-ups, paid subscribers, ticket sales.
Virality: number of clips exceeding threshold plays (platform-specific benchmarks).

2026 trends to lean into (don’t ignore these)

As platforms matured in late 2025, three dynamics reshaped what works in podcasting:

Short-form social drives discovery — algorithmic feeds prioritize vertical clips from long-form audio; shows that build repeatable clip factories get sustained growth.
Creator-first monetization — audiences now pay for community access and exclusive audio extras; hybrid ad+subscription models outperform ad-only strategies for celebrity hosts.
Modular content distribution — publishers repurpose episodes into micro-articles, newsletters and AI-enhanced highlights; metadata and transcripts became table stakes for discoverability.

Predicting Ant & Dec's outcome — realistic scenarios

Here are three plausible trajectories for Hanging Out, with the actions that define each.

1. Breakout audio hit

Trigger: Every episode is clip-optimized, the team nails live events, and they build a subscriber tier for deep cuts and archive TV content. Result: strong UK and international growth, sustainable ad and fan revenue.

2. Moderate performer with loyal core

Trigger: Good initial momentum but inconsistent clip strategy and slow subscriber uptake. Result: steady listener base, occasional viral moments, solid live-show revenue but limited international reach.

3. TV nostalgia side-project

Trigger: Episodes lean too heavily on general chat with weak discoverability and limited short-form distribution. Result: decent initial downloads from the fanbase, but low growth beyond pre-existing fans.

Fast checklist: nine tactical moves to maximize launch week

Drop two episodes at launch to boost bingeability.
Release 5 prioritized vertical clips alongside episode drops.
Publish full transcripts and SEO-ready show notes on launch day.
Coordinate cross-promos with ITV and legacy TV channels for the first month.
Schedule a live YouTube premiere with audience chat enabled.
Prepare a merch pre-order tied to the first episode’s line that’s instantly recognizable.
Offer a 14-day subscriber trial for early access content.
Set up social listening dashboards to capture trending moments for immediate repurposing.
Book at least one high-profile guest in month two to sustain momentum.

Final verdict: Ant & Dec could be an audio hit — if they treat podcasting like both talk radio and a creator business

Their natural chemistry and household-name brand give them a runway most new creators can only dream of. But 2026 is not a rewards-for-celebrity market: it rewards strategy, clip-first thinking and community-first monetization. If Hanging Out blends authentic banter with smart distribution, tight metadata, and a clear monetization funnel, Ant & Dec could join the small club of successful celebrity podcasts that remain culturally relevant in a fragmented audio landscape.

Takeaway checklist (what to do next)

Design recurring segments that create clipable moments.
Prioritize short-form content for every episode.
Build immediate community touchpoints (newsletter, live Q&A, subscriber extras).
Use SEO-first episode pages and full transcripts to capture search traffic.
Plan live tapings and limited merch drops to monetize fandom quickly.

Call to action

Want a ready-to-run episode calendar, clip strategy and SEO plan tailored to Ant & Dec’s brand? Subscribe to our creator briefing or request a free 1-page launch checklist — we’ll map the first 12 episodes, short-form schedule and a monetization blueprint designed for 2026’s creator economy. Hit the link, and let’s make Hanging Out not just nostalgic — but a modern audio hit.

smash

Contributor

Senior editor and content strategist. Writing about technology, design, and the future of digital media. Follow along for deep dives into the industry's moving parts.