Sam and Mark aim to get the Ant and Dec factor

?They started out as pop star hopefuls on one of the first big television talent shows of the era.

But after swapping their singing dream for a career as TV presenters, former Pop Idol finalists Mark Rhodes and his co-host Sam Nixon today spoke of their hope of becoming the next Ant and Dec.

And the pair joke that if they had known then which way their careers were headed, they would have made a proper study of the Pop Idol presenters back when they were contestants.

But with a packed work diary and a big fan following, they seem to have managed the move to TV hosts instinctively and are becoming used to comparisons with the Geordie twosome.

"It's lovely to hear — we're big fans. And if we have one half the success they have we'll be happy," said Mark, from Darlaston.

"We used to see a lot of them backstage on Pop Idol but we were singers back then. If we'd known we'd end up as presenters we'd have taken more notice."

Sam says: "They are the sweethearts of the entertainments world, it's a massive compliment to be compared to them. I can't wait till I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here starts, they're the best thing about it."

Former Darlaston Community Science College pupil Mark and Sam met in 2003 on the second Pop Idol series which was won by Michelle McManus with Mark finishing runner-up and Sam coming third.

The pair got on so well that they released two singles together, including a cover of With A Little Help From My Friends that topped the singles charts the following year.

The move into presenting came on Top of the Pops Reloaded with Fearne Cotton, followed by the Saturday morning show TMi and the children's reality series Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

But with a current slot on the ITV daytime programme This Morning and a part in the forthcoming Comic Relief telly extravaganza, they are moving slowly but surely in the direction of mainstream TV.