Ant McPartlin's 'wife wanting him home' reason for Saturday Night Takeaway break

23 February 2024 , 14:05

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Ant McPartlin's 'wife wanting him home' reason for Saturday Night Takeaway break

Ant and Dec have revealed their "wives want us home" ahead of the 20th series of Saturday Night Takeaway.

The Geordie duo will be resting the iconic show for a while but have promised the final series will be bigger and better than ever. On Friday, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly welcomed Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary into the Saturday Night Takeaway studio to speak about the upcoming series, which starts on Saturday.

Explaining why they wanted to take a step back from the flagship show, Dec said: "We're trying to give the show rest – we did it once back in 2009 and we reimagined the show, we brought it back bigger and better. And that's what we think this time. It's a year-long thing for us, you know how long it takes when we shoot the undercovers, we shot [Dermot's] in July and then we're on TV in February so it's an all year round thing for us.

"It's really tiring and we've got a lot of other stuff on and our wives want us at home for a little bit. So we've decided to step off the hamster wheel for a bit it and step back from the show and reimagine it. You can't change the show while you're on it so we want to step back from it, have a look at it and change it."

Ant and Dec will be resting the show after its 20th series (ITV)

Ant added: "This series we're going to go out with a bang, we're going out on a high," as Dermot interjected: "Your wives are probably at home watching to this, thinking 'We didn't ask from them to be home.'"

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"We don't want you home that much!" Ant joked as Dec quipped: "Be careful what you wish for." Dermot also shared an insight into getting his own back on the hosting duo in the new series.

The tables will turn on Ant and Dec with a very special edition of Get Out Of Me Ear: The Revenge where celebrities who have been hidden camera victims of the Geordie duo over the years get their revenge. Dermot took part in the prank and admitted it was the "happiest day of my life – and I include my son being born and getting married in that".

The upcoming 20th series will have loads of brand new challenges, hilarious hidden camera set ups, new studio games and live surprises, and will also be a celebration of all things Takeaway from over the years. Ant and Dec have confirmed a host of treats for the live launch show next weekend including Stephen Merchant as the Guest Announcer, the unveiling of our brand new little Ant & Dec, a must watch and hilarious Simon Cowell ‘Undercover’ and a special End of the Show Show with Becky Hill and Urban Theory.

Charlotte McIntyre