TEARS AS DEC GOES IT ALONE ON SHOW
DECLAN Donelly’s solo appearance on Saturday Night Takeaway after partner Ant’s drink-drive arrest left some viewers in tears.
As the remaining half of TV’s golden presenting duo opened the popular prime-time show, fans took to Twitter to express their sadness.
“It’s 7.02 and I’m sat crying over Dec walking down the stairs on his own,” tweeted @tatesross.
While @katiewilson_x said: “I can’t help feeling absolutely heartbroken for Dec. Could see it on his wee face straight away.”
Others tweeted GIFs of people sobbing saying it described how they looked watching the ITV1 show.
Many others tweeted their support with comedian and TV presenter Paddy McGuinness posting a GIF of Superman ripping open his shirt to reveal his famous S logo with the words: “Dec on tonight’s #SaturdayNightTakeaway”.
Ant McPartlin’s arrest for drinkdriving earlier this month led to crisis talks with ITV bosses and the show being pulled for one week.
As Ant has now been charged and has headed back into rehab Dec took the difficult decision to take the helm of the last two shows alone and he managed to kick off with a gag.
The Saturday evening show opened with its normal credits, which feature both stars.
After guest announcer Stephen Merchant introduced Dec, this week’s musical guest Paloma Faith opened the show with her new single.
Then Dec, standing alone on the stage, thanked the audience for their warm welcome but joked: “I’ll have twice as much work to do this week.”
But there was no direct mention of Ant.
Merchant – a comedian, writer and actor – offered to join Dec on stage. But when Dec declined Merchant said he thought it was because Dec feared his 6ft 7in frame would dwarf him.
Show regulars Scarlett Moffatt and Stephen Mulhern have taken on extra presenting duties during Ant’s absence. However, he did receive some screen time in a pre-recorded comedy sketch.
Dec wrapped up the show by thanking viewers for their support. The presenter looked unusually straight-faced as he said: “Thanks to you for watching – thank you so much.”
The show, which did not broadcast on Saturday, March 24, after Ant’s arrest, was still sponsored by car manufacturer Suzuki, despite the decision to drop the duo from its advertising deal, rumoured to be worth £20m.
One of the show’s segments SofaWatch, which sees a sofa placed in a mystery location for viewers to find, travelled to Porthmadog and saw one lucky Welsh viewer land herself a prized “Place on the Plane” – a ticket to Florida for the finale of the Saturday Night Takeaway next weekend.