Yahoo News Ant & Dec confirm SM:TV Live is back with Cat Deeley and people are beside themselves
Last year saw the return of ‘TFI Friday’ with Chris Evans and it seems we’re set for another wave of nostalgic telly as Ant and Dec have revealed they are bringing back ‘SM:TV Live’.
The Geordie duo convinced ITV to let them revive the beloved children’s TV show and dished on details of their plan at the TV Bafta’s last night (May 14), confirming that it will return to screens to mark its 20th anniversary.
The pals became so much more than just ‘Byker Grove’ graduates when they took the helm of ‘SM:TV Live’ alongside Cat Deeley in 1998 and the pair dropped a huge hint that a rival was in the works when they were reunited with Cat on ‘Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Take Away’.
Speaking last night, Ant confirmed the news to reporters and said: “ITV have just agreed…”
Dec added: “We came back and ITV said ‘oh so you’ve re-commissioned it on air have you?’ but they’re on board now and we’ve had first discussions about it and it looks like it’s going to go ahead, not this September but next August/September.”
‘SM:TV Live’ was broadcast on ITV from 9.25am on a Saturday morning for three hours between 1998 and 2003 and the pair – who have scooped numerous National Television Awards for their TV hosting – said there’ll be a few changes but the format, and crew, will be the same.
Fans flocked to Twitter to express their delight at the news.
Highlight of 2017 so far – I just heard that SMTV LIVE is coming back!!!!
— Damian Bulmer (@damianbulmer) May 15, 2017
SMTV LIVE coming back has made my Monday!
— Jonathan Armstrong (@jonathan_a93) May 15, 2017
Figured I'd start this early … pleaseeee can I have audience tickets for SMTV live reunion?! @antanddec @catdeeley #childhooddream
— Emily (@emilyk2603) May 15, 2017
Ant continued: “It will be 20 years to the year. We can’t have the same studio unfortunately as it’s all getting changed around but we are getting the team back together.
“It will be three hours, but we are in our forties now.”
The award-winning show featured skits including ‘The Beautiful Corrs’, a parody of US sitcom’ Friends’, ‘Pokemon’ fights plus ‘Wonkey Donkey’ game.
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