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Ant McPartlin will feature in first Saturday Night Takeaway hosted by solo Declan Donnelly

Pre-recorded sketch series Saturday Knight Takeaway will continue to air

Ant McPartlin will feature as usual in Saturday Night Takeaway’s pre-recorded skit this weekend.

An insider told the Press Association that Ant, 42, will be seen in the next installment of the show’s Saturday Knight Takeaway series.

They said: “Saturday Knight Takeaway will continue in this week’s show and conclude during the series finale on Saturday 7th April.”

ITV
Ant and Dec pictured with Emilia Fox in the sketch series (Credit: ITV)

A representative for the show confirmed the news to Digital Spy.

Read more: Ant pictured for first time since entering rehab programme

According to The Sun, bosses decided to go ahead with the final two episodes of the sketch because it’s so popular with viewers.

A source said: “Viewers have loved the series and want to find out the conclusion in the final two episodes. Obviously it means Ant will still be on the show in some form.”

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Ant seen in Saturday Knight Takeaway two weeks ago (Credit: ITV)

Saturday Knight Takeaway is a follow up to last year’s brilliant The Missing Crown Jewels. It features Ant & Dec as members of a secret service who must unravel the mystery of why other members keep going missing.

Celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Michael Sheen, Emilia Fox and David Walliams have all filmed cameo roles for the sketch series.

Saturday Night Takeaway was cancelled last weekend after Ant was charged with drink-driving following a car collision in London.

Ant has since returned to rehab and taken a step down from TV commitments.

He is due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on April 4.

ITV
Dec will host the last two episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway’s current series without Ant (Credit: ITV)

Declan Donnelly, 42, will now host the final two episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway’s current series by himself, including the grand finale in Florida.

In a statement, ITV said: “ITV can confirm that Saturday Night Takeaway, presented by Declan Donnelly, will return on March 31, and the series finale will be taking place at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida a week later.”

Dec released his own statement confirming the news.

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Ant and Dec with their Saturday Night Takeaway colleagues Scarlett Moffatt and Stephen Mulhern (Credit: ITV)

He said: “Whilst I never thought I’d be in this position, after much discussion and careful consideration we’ve decided that the remaining two shows of this series of Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead.”

“We made a promise to take hundreds of deserving winners to Florida to watch the series finale, and we will honour that.

“Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series.”

Dec issued a statement last week (Credit: Twitter)

The final episode of the ITV primetime show will broadcast from Universal Orlando Resort, with hundreds of competition winners flown there in a special plane.

While Ant will not be there, Dec will likely have support from his Saturday Night Takeaway colleagues Stephen Mulhern and Scarlett Moffatt.

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