Saturday Night Takeaway fans were left distracted in the opening moments of the show as they noticed a strange habit of their Geordie hosts.
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly returned for another instalment of Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV, with a live audience in the studio.
Saturday Night Takeaway fans tuning into the latest episode noticed that the pair inexplicably kept on stressing the fact that the show was being broadcast ‘live’ in their opening comments.
Taking to Twitter, one viewer wrote: “What's with keep stressing it’s LIVE tonight. Hmmm.”
“Are Ant and Dec LIVE tonight by any chance? Only they haven't said anything about it just yet…,” a second wrote.
A third echoed asking: “What’s with all the ‘we’re live’ comments??”
“I find Dec reiterating they are live four times in the opening minutes of the show rather suspicious,” another dubious fan penned.
The Geordie pair hit screens once again last month with a fresh instalment of the long-running series, giving ITV viewers the happiest ninety minutes of the week.
The latest series of the cheeky show has billed cameos from the nation's favourite PE teacher Joe Wicks and Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman – as well as Alison Hammond and Rylan as the next unwitting victims of their very own Undercovers.
Yet this series of the popular Saturday night show has already attracted Ofcom complaints as disappointed viewers complained to the broadcasting regulator over a prank involving a pregnant woman which divided fans.
Viewers called the show 'distasteful', as hosts Ant and Declan played a prank on a first-time dad by creating fake footage of the 4D scan of the baby.
Ofcom's latest report notes 111 viewers have lodged complaints "related to the series of pranks played on a husband throughout his wife’s pregnancy."
ITV and presenters Ant and Dec are yet to respond to the backlash to the divisive prank.
It comes after the Geordie duo revealed that they have turned down some of the suggestions from producers during the making of the show.
Ant and Dec appeared on Capital Breakfast to speak with Roman Kemp and said they felt nervous pranking Gordon Ramsay and Jeremy Clarkson, as Gordon “vows” to get back at them.
Roman asked the duo if there are any sketches producers have asked them to do but refused, to which Ant said there had been.
Dec explained: “I think sometimes we sit down and they go 'we thought maybe you could do this' and we go 'no, I think that's crossing the line'.”
