Ant and Dec have broken their silence about plans for the upcoming episode of Saturday Night Takeaway, which will go ahead without a live studio audience for the first time in the show's history. Sharing a snap of themselves FaceTiming with other members of the show's crew, they wrote: "Script meeting! We’ll massively miss our studio audience but the show will go on this weekend. Stay safe everyone, we’ll see you on the telly this Saturday."
© Photo: ITVThe presenters shared a snap of their Skype chat
Steph McGovern was among those to reply to the tweet, pointing out Dec's glasses in the snap. She wrote: "Eeee I didn’t know Dec wore gegs. Love them! Good luck with the show." A fan wrote: "We need you guys more than ever. Keep us laughing." A third person tweeted: "Thank you for still doing the show."
The presenting duo were unfortunately forced to cancel their grand finale in Disney World, Florida, where they originally intended to film along with 300 fans who had won a seat on the plane. Speaking about the show, a spokesperson said: "Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead this weekend without a studio audience. Our priority is safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved. The show will be made with a reduced production crew and in accordance with the latest guidance from Public Health England. The team are looking forward to bringing our viewers a brilliant show on Saturday evening."
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Viewers are delighted that the show is going ahead, particularly due to the series of TV cancellations. EastEnders has confirmed that filming will be halted due to coronavirus concerns in a statement which read: "In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on EastEnders will be postponed until further notice. The decision was made after the latest government update. We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England. We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two, so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible."
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