Lights, camera ACTION!

Cover stars ANT and DEC chat to TV Times about their exciting plans for the final-for-now series of Takeaway, and what the future holds...

- REBECCA FLETCHER

SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAY

SATURDAY, 7PM, ITV1 ENTERTAINMENT 

After news broke in May 2023 that the 20th series of ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway would be the show’s last for a while, everyone at TV Times was in agreement: the boys needed sending off in style!

So when Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly agreed to be our cover stars, we knew exactly whose iconic partnership they would enjoy emulating for the camera – fellow kings of light entertainment Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise!

‘They were our childhood heroes – we watched them as kids, so this is great,’ says Ant, 48, grinning from ear to ear as he poses alongside Dec in the matching director’s chairs that we had custom-made to recreate the famous shot of the late comedy legends.

‘Watching Morecambe and Wise was event telly,’ smiles Dec, also 48. ‘To even be mentioned in the same breath as them is flattering, as they were the masters. If we can be half as successful and well-loved as they are, we’ll be happy.’

Judging by the 22 consecutive TV Presenter National Television Awards as well as countless TV Times Awards that they’ve amassed over the past three decades, we’d say the Geordie duo have definitely matched their heroes as the modern-day leading lights in the world of entertainment extravaganzas.

Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win, Britain’s Got Talent, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here! – everything the best pals of 34 years touch turns to TV gold. So why then are they pulling the shutters down on one of the nation’s favourite shows, Saturday Night Takeaway, which began in 2002 and bursts back on to our screens this week for its 20th run?