Why is Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway not on ITV and when is it back on?

The popular entertainment show returned to our screens at the end of February

People turning on to ITV tonight will be expecting the latest installment of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night's Takeaway.

The popular entertainment show returned to our screens at the end of February. However the popular Geordie duo said it could well be the show's last series after more than 20 years on our screens.

Ant and Dec, both 47, confirmed that the series would be taking a break after its 20th season and has spent the last few weeks airing in its usual primetime Saturday night slot.

This Saturday night should be the fourth episode of the series but Ant and Dec told viewers last weekend that the show would be back in two weeks due to a change to the schedule. Instead, the Six Nations rugby match between France and England is being broadcast on ITV from 7.20pm.

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Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will return as normal on Saturday, March 23. The duo took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm the news. Sharing a number of pictures from the series so far, they posted: "Our #SaturdayNightTakeaway camera roll so far... No show tonight but we're excited for more of this next week! See you then."

Last year Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly announced they would be taking a break from the show after its 20th series - saying it's the “perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath”.

Saturday Night Takeaway first launched in 2002, with the show pausing for a period in 2009, before returning four years later in 2013. It has received multiple accolades over the years, including Bafta and National Television Awards (NTA) awards.

Speaking to Fault magazine, Ant explained the decision to take a break from the show. He said: “Part of the reason we’re pausing Takeaway is we need a break ourselves, and we need to spend some time with our family.

“We’ve both got children that we need to spend time with for a little bit." He added: "We need time to think and, and time to step back and look at the bigger picture and just see where we are now.

“‘Like I say, we’re turning 49, and what do we want to do next? What’s the next phase of our career?”

“And we’ve got lots of ideas and lots of offers on the table, lots of options of things we can do. But it’s working on what we do next and where the next chapter begins.

“So that’s what we’re gonna do when Saturday Night Takeaway is out of the way. We’ll sit down, take a bit of time, and re-evaluate everything.”