Ant and Dec suffer from Saturday Night Takeaway… from viewers!

For more than two decades, the Geordie duo have been the undisputed kings of primetime television. But it seems viewers are fed up with Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, and millions are leaving their new series of Saturday Night Takeaway.

Viewership for the first episode, which aired late last month, averaged 4.9million viewers, at their lowest since the variety show launched on ITV in 2002. Worse still for the perky duo, who watched for the second Another 500,000 slumped on March 4th.

That means they’ve lost almost a third of their audience since 7.3 million tuned in to the opening episode two years ago, which then dropped to 5.7 million in 2022.

At the peak of Saturday Night Takeaway’s popularity in March 2020, it attracted 11.1 million viewers. ITV insiders were stunned by the loss, with some blaming “tiredness and a tired format”.

It comes just weeks after And and Dec – who have won Presenters of the Year for 21 consecutive years – signed a three-year “golden handcuffs” deal with ITV that is estimated at more than £30million. The deal means they’re celebrating 25 years at the station.

It seems viewers Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (pictured with Alison Hammond, Jordan North, Stephen Mulhern, David Tennant and Andi Peters) have grown tired of Saturday night’s takeaways

Viewership for the first episode of the couple’s show, which aired late last month, was at its lowest since the show began on ITV in 2002

Sources at ITV say bosses are said to have been keen on completing the deal following interest from Netflix and Amazon Prime.

During ITV I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! – also hosted by Ant and Dec – is still popular and while last year’s series drew more than nine million viewers, there are fears Britain’s Got Talent – another show in the couple’s front lines – is not doing well in the ratings will when it airs later this year.

The couple also hosts a quiz show, Ant And Dec’s Limitless Win.

One theory behind the drastic drop in popularity is said to be Mr McPartlin’s conviction in 2018 after he crashed his Mini into two cars in Richmond, south west London, injuring a young boy. The 48-year-old star was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £86,000. He then went into rehab and took a break from work, allowing Mr. Donnelly, 47, to host the Saturday Night Takeaway finale alone for the first time.

Around the same time, Mr McPartlin split from his wife of 12 years, Lisa Armstrong. The couple later divorced and he married his personal assistant in 2021.

An ITV spokesman said: “It was the biggest program of the day, beating Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel on the same day by three million viewers.”

He added that Saturday Night Takeaway has had ITV1’s largest audience among 16-34 year olds so far this year.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk