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Ant McPartlin ‘set to return to Saturday Night Takeaway’ alongside Declan Donnelly after two-year break
4 August 2019, 09:42
The award-winning entertainment show will return to screens in 2020 and promises to be "bigger and better than ever!"
Ant McPartlin is reportedly returning to present Saturday Night Takeaway alongside Declan Donnelly following a two-year absence.
The popular entertainment show, which is set to return to ITV in 2020, was taken off the air last year when the award-winning telly star decided to take a step back from his career in the wake of his drink driving conviction.
But, with the support of his best friend and co-star Dec, he is slowly increasing his workload and will return to the award-winning weekend show when it graces screens next year.
A TV source told The Mirror: "There’s a real buzz around the show. It promises to be bigger and better than ever.
"As much as Dec did a great job on his own, it just wasn’t the same without Ant."
The Geordie TV presenter, 43, had been more than twice the drink drive limit when he was involved in a three-car collision in Richmond, South West London on March 18th, 2018.
After pleading guilty in court, he was fined £86,000 and handed a 20-month driving ban following the crash.
Addressing his actions at the time, he said: "I let myself down, I let a lot of people down. For that I'm truly sorry."
Ant, who has been battling alcohol dependency and drug addiction, decided to take a year away from TV commitments in a bid to get his health back on track.
He handed over his I’m a Celebrity presenting duties to This Morning's Holly Willoughby and watched as Dec presented the final two shows of Saturday Night Takeaway by himself.
The Britain's Got Talent host revealed his presenting partner was furious when he heard about his drink driving conviction and admitted there was "tension" between them.
Remembering their first conversation, Ant told The Sun: “He’s angry, of course he’s angry. But it’s justified and I understood it.
“I saw Dec the day after the crash and we didn’t even speak work. It wasn’t about that. It was about, ‘How are you?’ I said: ‘I’m not right.’ You know, mentally I wasn’t in a good place.
“We’re friends first and foremost. And we’re friends from the age of 13. But, of course, there’s going to be tensions there.
“Because this is not just getting pissed and making a fool of yourself at the office Christmas party — this is drink driving.”
However he explained their long-standing friendship of 30 years meant that Dec was there for him when he needed him most.
"Underneath all of that is love and still is love. And that’s what we talked about more than anything.”
