Revealed
SATURDAY NIGHT BREAKAWAY
Ant and Dec fans desert ITV as channel loses HALF its audience on Saturday — as The Voice draws in 4.2million viewers
ITV lost almost half its audience on Saturday night as viewers deserted the channel after Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was taken off air.
Its replacement for the prime-time slot The Voice failed to lure in the same viewing figures.
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The previous Saturday saw Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway reign supreme as the top watched programme on TV with a peak of 7.9million people tuning in for the fourth episode of the new series.
But The Voice last Saturday, which filled the 7pm gap, pulled in a peak of just 4.2million viewers.
A telly source said: “It’s a ratings nightmare for ITV, who are now pulling out all the stops to make sure Dec has plenty of support when he presents solo next week.”
Meanwhile, Declan Donnelly, 42, had his own Saturday night takeaway at the weekend as he had a takeaway dinner delivered to his door.
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The TV star, 42, had a night off presenting his prime time show Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV1 after bosses made the unprecedented decision to scrap it for a week when his co-host Ant McPartlin, also 42, was charged with drink driving on Wednesday.
Ant allegedly smashed into two cars on the wrong side of the road while over the limit last Sunday.
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Saturday Night Takeaway viewers in hysterics at Ant and Dec's height difference with Ashley and Jordan Banjo
Dec was snapped on the doorsteps of his West London home, but kept quiet about his new arrival.
He will be back on screens on Saturday and has opted to host the last two episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway on his own, while Ant goes back to rehab.
ITV announced Dec will present Takeaway alone on March 31 as well as the series finale in Orlando on April 7. But as we reported last week co-stars Stephen Mulhern and Scarlett Moffatt will also appear as usual as part of a “group effort”. Singer Paloma Faith will perform on the night.
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Dec wrote on Twitter last week: “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 honour that.
“Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series.”
MOST READ IN BIZARRE
The duo previously vowed they would never go solo.
They wrote in joint autobiography Ooh! What A Lovely Pair: “We made an agreement - whatever happened, we’d be mates forever, and neither one of us would ever be on our own out there.”
'Dad' confirms baby delight
THE TV duo’s week from hell ended on a happy note as the Sun on Sunday revealed that Dec and his wife Ali, 40, have told friends and family that they are expecting their first child.
It is believed that talent manager Ali, who Dec wed in 2015, fell pregnant in December following the last series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
But the couple kept it secret until they knew that Ali had safely passed the 12-week mark.
Geordie Dec, who has six brothers and sisters, has been open in the past about how he is keen to start a family.
Asked last year if he would like children, he said: “Absolutely at some point, when the time is right. Hopefully, as Ant says, if it comes along, then it would be great.”
On another occasion he said: “Kids are absolutely one of the things on the cards for us.”
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