Declan Donnelly To Host ITV’s ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ On His Own Following Ant McPartlin’s Suspected DUI
Rex/Shutterstock ITV will air the final two episodes of this season ofSaturday Night Takeaway with ..
Rex/Shutterstock
ITV will air the final two episodes of this season ofSaturday Night Takeaway with Declan Donnelly handling hosting duties on his own after his co-host Ant McPartlin was involved in a suspected DUI.
The British broadcaster pulled this weekend’s episode of the ITV Studios-produced show following the incident but has decided to return to the hit gameshow after discussing with Donnelly.
The show, which records audiences of around 9M per week, will return to ITV on March 31 and the season finale, which will take place at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida, will air on April 7. Some 200 fans of the show are set to fly out on a specially chartered plane with a number of star guests lined up for the finale.
Donnelly said, “Whilst I never thought I’d be in this position, after much discussion and careful consideration we’ve decided that the remaining two shows of this series of Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead. We made a promise to take hundreds of deserving winners to Florida to watch the series finale, and we will honor that. Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series.”
McPartlin, who also co-hosts I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and Britain’s Got Talent, as been arrested on suspicion of DUI after a crash involving three cars Sunday afternoon in London. A number of people were treated for minor injuries, including a child who was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. McPartlin was taken to a South London police station for questioning before being released today under investigation.
The BAFTA-winning star, one half of popular double act Ant and Dec, spent two months in rehab last year after admitting to a painkiller and alcohol addiction. The addiction reportedly stemmed from a troubling knee operation in 2015.
