Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will come to an end tonight after 20 seasons(Image: ITV)

Why did Ant and Dec cancel ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway? All the reasons the duo have given

Fans of ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway have just one episode left to watch as hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly revealed last year that it will end in 2024

by · The Mirror

Fans of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway have been in mourning for almost a year knowing the current season will be the last.

The long-running game-show has been on ITV since 2002, churning out over 130 episodes across 20 impressive seasons. But as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end - and last year show hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly blindsided fans by revealing they would end the show in 2024.

Viewers have been watching the current season since February when viewers have been able to enter competitions, the live studio audience have been dragged into comedic game show sketches, and fans have been reduced to tears by the Happiest Minute Of The Week in which the hosts gift a number of good Samaritans with wild prizes. But all the fun and prize-giving will come to an abrupt stop after this weekend.

Saturday 13 April 2024 will mark the two hour live final of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway - after which the show will be shut down and the studio cleared out for good. However some fans might be wondering exactly why the show is being cancelled - and they should read on now.

The long-running show has been on the air since 2002( Image: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Original statement

Ant and Dec stunned fans in May last year when they dropped their bombshell news that the 2024 season of Saturday Night Takeaway would be the last. Taking to Instagram, the pair shared the shock news in a joint video statement. Ant began: “We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath."

Dec then said: “We still have a momentous 20th series to look forward to first so we will do our best to go out (for now) with a bang in 2024.” Ant continued: “Next year in 2024 it will be the 20th series of Saturday Night Takeaway and we’ve got some very special look-backs planned, as well as some very exciting new items." And Dec added: “And we’ve also decided that our 20th series next year will be our last one for a little while. The show takes up such a lot of our year, we just feel we need a little bit of a breather, and that the show is going to take a little bit of a rest.”

The pair then promised that fans would have lots to enjoy in the final season - which they teased might not be the last ever. Ant declared at the time: “But before that though, we’ve got the 20th series to plan."

In February, Ant said the decision to quite Saturday Night Takeaway was so he and Dec could spend more time with their families( Image: WireImage)

Family life

Ins February this year, just as the 20th season of Saturday Night Takeaway was beginning, Ant gave further insight into his and Dec’s reason for wanting to take a break from the show. He revealed they wanted to spend more time with their families, rather than taking out their weekends with a live prime time show.

Opening up to Fault magazine, Ant said: "On a more personal level, 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. We need time to think and, and time to step back and look at the bigger picture and just see where we are now."

And speaking of his own changing relationship with Dec, Ant said: "We started working together when we were 13, and we became friends very quickly. But, you know, we're both, were are both 49 this year. We're obviously not the same people that we were when we were 13. So throughout our career, you know, we've both changed. But being able to maintain that friendship doesn't come naturally. Sometimes you have to work with friendships, and sometimes you have to compromise and sometimes you have to give each other space and time and whatever."

The real reason?

Days before the finale, Ant and Dec opened up yet again about their choice to axe their own show. Opening up to The Independent, Dec said: “Twenty series just feels like a natural point to pause… We don’t want to say we’ll never do it again. But we’ve both got families now. Our lives have changed dramatically. We want to step off the hamster wheel, catch our breath and decide what’s next.”

Ant added: “It will be bittersweet, with lots of tears, but it feels like the right thing.” However, Dec went on to tease that there could be more seasons of the show in the future.

He explained: “We still have a momentous 20th series to look forward to first so we will do our best to go out (for now) with a bang in 2024.” While Ant gushed: “To have our own show, with our names in the title, in the heart of primetime felt like a huge feat for two lads from Newcastle.”

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