ANT McPartlin tweeted for the first time in over a month tonight ahead of his big return to work - and fans were thrilled.

The 43-year-old presenter has taken most of the year off to focus on his well-being after his drink-drive arrest in March, and has maintained a low profile on social media.

But tonight, Ant returned to Twitter to encourage his followers to watch a show his production company with BFF Declan Donnelly - Mitre Television - was involved in.

He wrote: "***exciting show alert*** Tonight ITV 9pm Re-Play 2018 with Richard Osman. Play along and see if you've been paying attention to 2018. Enjoy!A".

However fans were more interested in the fact the tweet was signed off with an 'A' for Ant, marking the first time he's tweeted since he wished Dec and his I'm a Celebrity stand in Holly Willoughby good luck ahead of their first show on November 18.

The tweet was flooded with well wishes from fans, who can't wait to see Ant back on screens for Britain's Got Talent in the New Year.

One wrote: "Don’t care about the show, just love that Ant tweeted".

Another added: "Miss you Ant" with a heart emoji, while a third tweeted: "Can't wait to see you back on my TV screen Ant! it's not the same without you!!"

A fourth agreed, writing: "So happy to see that 'A' back. Good luck with 2019 boys."

Ant's tweet comes after The Sun's Bizarre column exclusively revealed earlier this month that Ant was returning to work that week for the first time in nine months.

The star was to join Dec at Britain’s Got Talent production meetings, his first TV work since a car crash in March led him to check in to rehab for substance addiction.

A source said: “He always planned to take the rest of 2018 off to fully recover.

“He didn’t want to commit to anything before he was absolutely ready but now he feels up to it again.