They can't takeaway our fun

Ant & Dec carry on Saturday night mayhem

- MARK JEFFERIES and RHIAN LUBIN

ANT and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway enjoyed its biggest ever audience as families stayed home to watch TV over the weekend.

The Geordie duo had vowed to “put a smile on people’s faces” ahead of the show and they pulled in an average of 9.5 million viewers, peaking at 11.1 million, despite having no studio audience.

But it is also the last live show of the run as the boys are going into lockdown.

Dec said: “That is it, show is done. That is it for the lives. We will be back next week but it is on tape.”

The highlight was the End of the Show Show, with Olly Murs singing Dance With Me Tonight in the studio in front of dozens of videos of fans dancing along at home.

Insiders revealed the two final episodes of the series would go ahead using recorded items and “best bits”.

A source said: “This week’s show will be 60 minutes with pre-recorded links by Ant and Dec. It’ll include the final episode of mini-series Men in Brown and some of Ant and Dec’s favourite moments.

“The series finale on April 4 will be a 60-minute new special compilation show featuring some of SNT’s greatest moments from over the years with some new intros from the boys too.

“They have worked really hard to make sure the series can be completed in some form because they know people will want something to watch.”

The duo also launched a mental wellness campaign on screen on Saturday night amid the outbreak.