Ant and Dec with their Saturday Night Takeaway mini-mes (Image: PA)

Little Ant and Dec are unrecognisable as ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway return date confirmed

Ant and Dec announced their popular ITV show will return for its final series on February 24

by · Birmingham Live

Ant and Dec have confirmed the return of their popular ITV show Saturday Night Takeaway for the final series. The multi-award winning entertainment show will be back for the 20th series, starting on Saturday, February 24.

And long-time viewers of the show will remember when Little Ant and Dec first appeared, way back in 2003. The young stars shot to fame as their namesake's "mini" counterparts and interviewed a host of celebrities over the years.

The duo were tasked with getting the lowdown on Hollywood stars - and their cheeky attitudes often saw interviews quickly descend into chaos, as reported by Liverpool Echo.

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James Pallister and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw were the original doppelgangers. They left Saturday Night Takeaway in 2006 after a growth spurt meant they were no longer the fresh-faced kids they came in as. Ant and Dec went through several "little" versions of themselves with a number of replacements - and again in 2013 when show bosses rebooted the characters.

Over 20 years after their first debut, Little Ant and Dec are completely unrecognisable from their first appearance. James and Dylan, who are also both Geordies, have since stayed out of the spotlight but reunited with Ant and Dec back in 2021.

James and Dylan looked unrecognisable when they reunited with Ant and Dec a couple of years ago (Image: ITV)

Reminiscing on the reunion, Dylan said: "It’s always good to see Ant and Dec again. They were shocked when they saw us, it’s been a few years since we have caught up and we are much taller!

"It was a really good experience. Me and James used to joke with Ant and Dec. They were great teachers! Looking back I guess we were able to be more naughty and cheeky than they would have got away with.

"Times have changed. I don’t think I look like a Little Ant now but I really enjoyed the experience and it's something I’ll never forget."