Saturday Night Takeaway To Go Ahead Without Studio Audience Amid Coronavirus

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway will be filmed without a live studio audience this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This is the first time the show has ever been made without an audience and it will be adapted accordingly.

An ITV spokesperson told LADbible: "Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead this weekend without a studio audience.

"Our priority is safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved. The show will be made with a reduced production crew and in accordance with the latest guidance from Public Health England.

"The team are looking forward to bringing our viewers a brilliant show on Saturday evening."

PA

The following week's episode on 28 March is scheduled to be a shorter 60-minute show, though this will be continually reviewed as the situation develops.

It will certainly be interesting to see how exactly they adapt the show, given it relies heavily on audience participation and the atmosphere created within the studio.

In a tweet after last weekend's show, the Geordie hosts said they hoped SNT allowed people to 'forget about the outside world for a bit'.

One couple who have definitely been smiling a lot more since appearing on the show are Simon and Petra Williams.

They were surprised with the keys to their own £260,000 ($337,538) three-bed house as the country watched on. It was a bit of luck that the couple more than deserved, having lost their daughter Darcey-Leigh from sudden infant death syndrome in 2017.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Petra set up charity Darcey's Dream, which provides support for families of the recently bereaved, while delivery driver Simon works around the clock to provide for his wife and three kids: five-year-old Emelia-Paige, three-year-old Layla-Grace and two-year-old Bailey.

Petra said: "It's just a dream come true. You never in your wildest dreams think you're going to find yourself on Saturday Night Takeaway, being handed the keys to your own house.

"We've got so many things of Darcey's that will come over here - her blankets, her teddies, the kids have their memory boxes and their 'Darcey bunnies', the sibling link teddies which remind them of her, which they love. I think Emelia-Paige tells her Darcey bunny more than she tells me.

"I have a rocker that was Darcey's which I keep next to my bed, with all her teddies and things in. We talk about her every single day, we keep her memory alive, and the girls keep her memory alive - she'll never be forgotten in this house."

Topics: TV and Film, saturday night takeaway, UK Entertainment, Ant and Dec

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey