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Ant & Dec lose out on two TV awards as Dec skips ceremony after Ant’s arrest

Ant McPartlin was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving on Sunday

Ant and Dec steered clear of the Royal Television Awards on Tuesday night as they missed out on two gongs at the ceremony.

The TV duo cancelled this weekend’s Saturday Night Takeaway after Ant McPartlin was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

Ant was said to be heading back to rehab while Dec avoided the ceremony where they lost out to Love Island in the entertainment category.

Dominic Lipinski/PA
Ant and Dec at the RTS awards in 2016 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The pair also missed out on the entertainment performance prize for their work on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! as Channel 4’s The Last Leg was named winner.

Read more: Phillip Schofield makes strong remarks in response to Ant McPartlin’s arrest

Ant, 42, was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving on Sunday afternoon following a car collision in South West London.

He was released under investigation as inquiries continue.

Grant Buchanan / FameFlynet.uk.com
Ant is stepping down from current TV commitments (Credit: Grant Buchanan / FameFlynet.uk.com)

His rep has confirmed the star is now returning to treatment and stepping down from his current TV commitments, including Saturday Night Takeaway.

Ant’s publicist said in a statement: “Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments.

“He has spoken with Dec and ITV today and asked for time off for the foreseeable future. As such, Saturday Night Takeaway will not be going ahead this Saturday.”

This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Takeaway has been cancelled, while a decision has yet to be made on the final two episodes of the series.

Ant & Dec also host Britain’s Got Talent on ITV.

ITV
This weekend’s Saturday Night Takeaway has been cancelled (Credit: ITV)

The BBC scooped 17 awards on Tuesday night as it was named RTS channel of the year at the ceremony at the Grovesnor House Hotel in central London.

The big winner was BBC Three’s This Country with siblings Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper taking home three awards including the comedy writer prize.

They also won in the comedy performance category while the show picked up the scripted comedy prize.

Love Island, hosted by Caroline Flack, won in the entertainment category (Credit: Terry Scott / Flynet – SplashNews)

Planet Earth II, presented by Sir David Attenborough won the science and natural history award while co-stars Sinead Kennan and Stephen Graham won the best actor (female) and best actor (male) prizes respectively.

Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones were recognised with the judges’ award for the Netflix series while the streaming giant’s The Crown was awarded a special recognition prize.

Cracker creator Jimmy McGovern was recognised for his body of work with the lifetime achievement award.

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