Ant and Dec apologise for 'impersonating people of colour' on Saturday Night Takeaway

10 June 2020, 19:34 | Updated: 10 June 2020, 19:51

The presenting duo have issued an apology on Twitter.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have apologised for 'impersonating people of colour' in old Saturday Night Takeaway episodes, telling fans that they are 'sincerely sorry' to everyone offended.

The presenting duo also revealed that they have taken steps to remove these clips from the ITV Hub and YouTube.

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In a statement posted to Twitter, they wrote: "During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the undercover segment of the show.

"We realise this was wrong and want to say that we sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended.

"We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make these sketches today.

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"We had already taken steps to ensure footage was taken down and have again recently confirmed with ITV that these segments, and any other historical content, that could cause offence, does not appear on either the ITV Hub or the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel."

In 2003, Ant and Dec appeared on the show as two Jamaican women called Patty and Bernice to prank the Emmerdale cast.

They have also impersonated people from other races, including Japanese girls, using make-up.

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