A family from Woodford Green can now be seen in a new television advert with Ant and Dec (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

A family from Woodford Green can now be seen in a new television advert with Ant and Dec

1:30pm Monday 2nd November 2009

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A FAMILY from Woodford have become overnight stars following their appearance in a television advert.

Members of the Patel family can now be seen starring in a high-profile campaign on television and online for the Nintendo Wii games console, alongside presenters Ant and Dec.

Dharmesh Patel set the ball rolling when he replied to an advert in a national newspaper looking for families to star in Nintendo's new ad campaign.

He said: “I saw the advert in a national newspaper. I thought it would be a long shot, but I sent off an email with a picture of myself and it just went on from there.

“I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I have played the Wii quite a lot. It all happened so quickly after seeing the advert.

"I filled in their questionnaire and before you know it we were doing a casting tape because Nintendo wanted to see us. In the end I think they picked us from three families that were shortlisted .

“It was a real surprise when Ant and Dec just turned up. We had an inkling that there was going to be some kind of celebrity involved but we had no idea who it was it. If you Googled it you couldn't find out who the stars were going to be, so it was all a bit of a shock.

“It was an all-day thing. We were picked up first thing in the morning and taken to a secret location by taxi. Then we had make-up and started the shoot.

"It was quite a long day in the end. But of course we really enjoyed it. It was a great experience for everybody.”

Wii Fit Plus give gamers the chance to get fit in their own living room as they compete in a series of challenges or against other players.

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