Yahoo News 'Saturday Night Takeaway' viewers thrilled by Ant and Dec's drag queen makeover
Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway returned to TV screens last night and wowed viewers with an all-singing, all-dancing finale in which the presenters were transformed into drag queens.
The Geordie duo took to the stage for the "End of the Show Show" as drag alter egos Lady Antoinette and Miss Donna Lee.
Read more: Stephen Mulhern bursts into This Morning for Takeaway stunt
They performed a choreographed song and dance routine alongside RuPaul's Drag Race UK winners The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Krystal Versace.
The original track We Werk Together has been made available to buy and stream, with proceeds from the song set to be donated to foodbank charity the Trussell Trust.
Viewers were full of praise for the performance and thanked the beloved presenters for helping to bring the "queer artistry" of drag to a mainstream Saturday night audience.
TV journalist Scott Bryan wrote on Twitter: "If you told my younger gay self that Ant & Dec one day perform in drag so good they're basically unrecognisable I wouldn't have believed you."
Read more: Drag Race UK star shares pictures of WW2 soldiers in drag
Ellis Atlantis, who won reality show Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star in 2019, revealed they were responsible for helping to transform Dec.
Another viewer said the performance made them feel "proud to be British".
If you told my younger gay self that Ant & Dec one day perform in drag so good they’re basically unrecognisable I wouldn’t have believed you #saturdaynighttakeaway https://t.co/VssQTEYWaw
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) February 19, 2022
I had the Pleasure of Painting Dec for tonight’s episode of #SaturdayNightTakeaway 🥳🙌🏻Thanks to Rupaul and Raven for having me on the glam squad pic.twitter.com/Wn8g1R3jUT
— EllisAtlantis (@Ellis_Atlantis) February 19, 2022
Ant & Dec looking stunning in drag. Love to see queer artistry on mainstream tv & showcased beautifully. 💙🙌 #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/FbkqdsrAYX
— AceStar (@AceStarGalaxy) February 19, 2022
Ant & Dec dressing up as drag queens, calling themselves ‘Angels of the North’ and dancing for the ‘end of the show show’ has really made me so happy and proud to be British, omg their actually amazing, I never thought I needed this👏🏼🥰 #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/wzajhjljIU
— Paige⁷🧸 (@PaigeLaur) February 19, 2022
Ant & Dec doing what they did with Ru & the girls tonight was phenom. Drag Race is unapologetically LGTBQ+ like nothing else associated with drag. Lilly & Edna were one thing but this is bringing something we love to the main bit of main stream and it proves things are changing. pic.twitter.com/n2EhivZJHs
— Christopher Golds (@chrisgolds) February 19, 2022
Ant and Dec's drag performance provided a dramatic finale to the show, which marked the first Saturday Night Takeaway with a live audience in almost two years and featured RuPaul as guest announcer.
Other segments included a dramatic "undercover" prank on Jeremy Clarkson's farm, in which the duo posed as protesters agitating for the rights of soil.
Read more: Joel Dommett wants Ant and Dec for The Masked Singer
McPartlin confessed on This Morning this week that he and Donnelly had some trepidation about fooling Clarkson, who had been on their "hit list" for years.
He said: "He’s got a temper as we all know, so we were very nervous about it."
Saturday Night Takeaway continues to air weekly on ITV, with Michael Bublé and George Ezra among future celebrity guests confirmed to show up.
Watch: Ant and Dec go undercover on Clarkson's farm in Saturday Night Takeaway stunt
