Ant and Dec reveal Saturday Night Takeaway twist that made them cringe

What did you miss?

Ant McPartlin has said he thought he was immune to embarrassment until he allowed celebrities to turn the tables on them in the new series of Saturday Night Takeaway.

Ant and Dec appeared on The One Show to discuss the upcoming series of their Saturday night entertainment show, which is set to be the last before the pair take a break to spend more time with their families. The told Alex Jones and Roman Kemp what viewers can expect from the show - which starts on Saturday, 24 February at 7pm on ITV1 - revealing they allow celebrity pals to take revenge on them by pranking them in return.

Donnelly admitted it was "hell" while McPartlin insisted the celebs were "worse on us than we'd ever been on anybody."

What, how, and why?

Declan Donnelly explained there is a big twist to their hidden camera segment I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Ear, in which they tell a celebrity guest to do embarrassing in public places, all filmed by hidden cameras. They invited former celebrity guests including Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Dermot O'Leary and Richard Madeley back to take part in telling them what to do

Donnelley said: "We did two separate ones and then we got together and the two of us went out for dinner at a restaurant which was rigged with hidden cameras." McPartlin revealed: "Nobody knew, none of the other diners knew, none of the waiting staff knew."

Donnelly said: "The only person who knew was the manager and we had Gino D'Acampo and Davina [McCall] Holly Willoughby, Rylan, Cheryl turned up, it was hell!"

McPartlin confessed: "It takes quite a lot to embarrass me and I thought maybe I'm just unembarrassable. I'm just that kind of guy, maybe it's me superpower. We went to the restaurant and now I know I'm embarassable! They put us through the ringer. I think they were worse on us than we'd ever been on anybody. It was horrible!"

The Geordie duo promised that while they are putting Saturday Night Takeaway on hiatus, they will be making more in the future.

Kemp joked: "It's not like One Direction is it? They said 'We're going on hiatus'. That's been a long hiatus." And and Dec laughed and insisted: "No!"

What else happened on The One Show?

And and Dec also gave an update on their next project - a revival of kids TV show Byker Grove, where they had their big break. The pair announced in July 2023 that they will produce a Byker Grove reboot and revealed they are still in the early stages.

Donnelly said: "We're still at the very beginning, it's still early days, but we're developing it, looking at storylines, looking at characters, looking at the world - because it can be whatever we want it to be. Lots of possibilities."

The pair refused to confirm if they will appear in the show themselves. They originally starred in the Children's BBC show centred around a youth club in Newcastle as best friends PJ and Duncan. They went on to launch a pop career as PJ & Duncan releasing their well-known dancefloor-filler Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble in 1994.

Asked if they will appear in the new show Donnelly said: "Er, we haven't decided yet." McPartlin added: "I doubt it." When host Alex Jones said they had to have a cameo he said: "Okay, maybe a cameo just for you."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm Monday to Friday.

Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway starts on Saturday, 24 February at 7pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

Read more: Ant and Dec

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• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway unveils first look at "one last series" (Digital Spy, 2 min read)