Fans were devastated yesterday as Ant and Dec announced they were leaving ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway.
Anthony McPartlin, 44, confirmed their decision by saying: "We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath.
Declan Donnelly, 47, added: “We still have a momentous 20th series to look forward to first so we will do our best to go out (for now) with a bang in 2024.”
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Now fans believe they have uncovered the real reason for their departure. Some viewers pointed to the very 'coincidental timing' of their exit coming amid the feud between This Morning co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
Viewers are now convinced that the Geordie pair could be lining themselves up for the major role.
One person said: "It's taking a break because they're replacing Philip and Holly!" Someone else posted: "They’re taking over from Phil and Holly on This Morning so won’t have time to make Takeaway anymore."
A third wrote: "Live look at the ITV office after Holly and Phil feud on “This Morning” and Ant and Dec end “Saturday Night Takeaway”:
Saturday Night Takeaway premiered back in 2002, although the pair took a break for other projects between 2009 and 2013.
The show focuses on a mixture of live and pre-recorded entertainment and quiz segments, including an audience-based quiz involving the television adverts during a week's episode of one of ITV's programmes and a competition in each series between the two presenters.
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