Ant and Dec reveal they've formed a 'cohort' to work without social distancing

Ant and Dec have formed a “cohort” while filming Britain’s Got Talent which allows them to work without social distancing.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are being tested for Covid-19 every four days so they can continue to work together in close proximity.

Donnelly told ITV’s This Morning: “We are a cohort, we are working on Britain’s Got Talent at the moment, and other things, so we get tested every four days so our households are connected and we formed a cohort so we can sit next to each other.”

McPartlin added: “We have got to be careful as to where we go and who we see but we’ve got each other.”

The pair will return to television on Saturday night as the semi-finals of the reality show finally air after a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However the judging panel will be missing Simon Cowell as he recovers from breaking his back.

McPartlin said: “We are back this Saturday, it’s the semi-finals so we have recorded them.

“We have got no Simon because he’s still recuperating but Ashley Banjo stepped in and he’s good, not that we expected him not to be good, but as he’s a past winner he’s really credible and from the off his comments are very good, quite harsh at times but he’s great.”

Addressing how the show will look without a live studio audience, Donnelly said: “We have got no audience in the studio but we have a massive virtual audience, we have like 500 people on a huge wall in the studio, and they are all sat at home watching it so we have an audience and they are all sat on their sofa clapping and cheering along, it’s really good.

“It’s different people every week but it’s fantastic and it looks amazing as well so it just gives you the sense that there are people there and for the acts they are performing to somebody and not just the four judges.”

McPartlin added: “It’s tough for the acts especially for comedians to come out there in front of nobody so we needed something and they’ve come up with this."

Additional reporting by Press Association.