It’s been revealed that Saturday Night Takeaway will not have a studio audience this weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly reportedly had “crisis talks” with bosses about the future of their primetime show on Tuesday afternoon (March 17).
A spokesperson for the show told The Sun: “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead this weekend without a studio audience.
Read more: Saturday Night Takeaway fans praying show WILL air this weekend to watch Bradley Walsh
“Our priority is safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved.
“The show will be made with a reduced production crew and in accordance with the latest guidance from Public Health England. The team are looking forward to bringing our viewers a brilliant show on Saturday evening.”
Our priority is safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved.
Meanwhile, according to the publication, the following weekend’s show (March 28) will only air for an hour.
A source said: “This is a real blow to the lads but they’re creative and held a meeting with the top brass at ITV to see how they could make the show work moving forward.
“They have mooted the idea of keeping the audience away and going ahead with the show and most of their usual skits, like Undercover and Men In Brown. But while this could work, Ant and Dec know the show survives and thrives from the audience participation.
“At the moment, having a live studio audience on Saturday night is very much up in the air. The last thing anyone wants is to pull the plug on the show so they’re trying to think outside of the box in a bid to make it work.”
It came after viewers were worried the show wouldn’t be airing at all after a cryptic comment from Dec during last Saturday’s show (March 14).
He said: “We will hopefully be back here next Saturday at 7. Have a great week, stay safe everybody.”
The hosts also revealed that this weekend’s show will see them prank Bradley Walsh.
Viewers were worried about the show being cancelled, especially as they’ll miss Bradley’s appearance.
“Praying you will be @antanddec, I really want to see that Bradley Walsh Undercover,” said one fan on Twitter.
“OMG I hope next week’s Saturday Night Takeaway is on so I can see the Bradley Walsh prank,” said another.
One person suggested: “Hopefully if next week’s show is cancelled they will put Bradley Walsh’s undercover on their YouTube channel for us to watch!”
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Meanwhile, a number of shows have taken measures against the spreading of coronavirus – also known as COVID-19 – after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people of the UK to start minimising social contact.
ITV’s Loose Women has got rid of its studio audience this week as well as Channel 5’s The Jeremy Vine Show.
As of Tuesday, March 17, the death toll in the UK stands at 71 with more than 1,000 confirmed cases.
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