Ant and Dec 'stepping back' from Saturday Night Takeaway after 20 years
18 May 2023, 21:40
Ant and Dec are taking a break from Saturday Night Takeaway "to catch their breath" after 20 years.
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The award-winning presenting duo said reaching the "milestone" of 20 series seemed like the "perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath."
The series previously took a pause in 2009, returning four years later in 2013.
Saturday Night Takeaway has received multiple Bafta and National Television Awards (NTA), including presenting accolades for McPartlin and Donnelly, since its launch in 2002.
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The pair will continue to host popular shows including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain's Got Talent and Limitless Win.
"We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath," McPartlin said.
Donnelly said: "We still have a momentous 20th series to look forward to first so we will do our best to go out (for now) with a bang in 2024."
In a video posted to Twitter on Thursday evening, the pair explained: "The show takes up such a lot of our year, we just feel that we need a little bit of a breather and have a little bit of a rest."
But the teased "some very exciting new items" set to come in the 20th series.
The most recent series of Saturday Night Takeaway launched in February, with ITV1's biggest overnight audience of the year, attracting 6.4 million viewers.
