Why is 'Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway' not on TV this weekend?

It's one of the highlights of weekend TV in many households, but Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway is missing from the ITV schedules this week.

Here's why the show is taking a break and what will be on in its place.

Why is Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway not on TV this weekend?

Fans of the lads will be disappointed to see that their cheery entertainment show is not airing this weekend.

It's a bumper weekend of sport at ITV, with Six Nations rugby airing throughout much of Saturday afternoon and evening at the channel.

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Saturday Night Takeaway has been ousted by one of the biggest matched of the weekend, France v England, which begins airing on ITV at 7.15pm.

When will it be back?

Luckily, it's only a week's break from Saturday Night Takeaway, which is scheduled to be back on ITV at its usual time of 7pm next weekend.

Next week's show will see Line Of Duty and Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin take on guest announcer duties, while crooner Michael Buble rounds things off with an End of the Show Show.

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There are still two more episodes in the series left to come, ending on Saturday, 9 April.

Britain's Got Talent, which is set to make its post-pandemic return this spring, is expected to begin airing in the early Saturday evening slot not long afterwards.

Starstruck fans will have noticed there is no episode this week, either - like Saturday Night Takeaway, it has been bumped by the rugby, but will return for the series semi-final next weekend.

Where is the Dancing On Ice final?

Entertainment show viewers who are hoping for things to get back to normal on Sunday will face a changing schedule, too.

The Dancing On Ice final was originally scheduled for Sunday evening, but it has been put off by a week after ITV won the rights to air FA Cup fixture Nottingham Forest v Liverpool.

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It kicks off at 6pm but the football coverage begins at 5.15pm, directly clashing with Dancing On Ice's usual slot.

However, the final is set for a week later on ITV on Sunday, 27 March at 7pm - hopefully, the extra week of training will mean finalists Brendan Cole, Kimberly Wyatt and Regan Gascoigne can pull something truly spectacular out of the bag.

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