Declan Donnelly will have no co-presenter when Saturday Night Takeaway returns without Ant McPartlin

ITV has confirmed that Dec will not be joined by a co-presenter for the remainder of Saturday Night Takeaway's run, and will instead front the final two episodes of the Saturday night entertainment show by himself.

Saturday Night Takeaway has been pulled from its slot this weekend (24th March), and there had been speculation as to what would happen with the remaining two shows following the news that Ant McPartlin had returned to rehab.

• Saturday Night Takeaway will not air this weekend
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Some reports had speculated that another presenter such as Holly Willoughby or Cat Deeley would be brought onto the show to host.

However, ITV has confirmed that Dec will be fronting the final two episodes in the series alone, with Takeaway regulars Stephen Mulhern and Scarlett Moffatt also be making their usual appearances.

In a statement, ITV said, "ITV can confirm that Saturday Night Takeaway, presented by Declan Donnelly, will return on March 31, and the series finale will be taking place at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida a week later."

Meanwhile Dec took to Twitter to post the following heartfelt message to fans.

"Whilst I never thought I’d be in this position, after much discussion and careful consideration we’ve decided that the remaining two shows of this series of Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead," he said.

“We made a promise to take hundreds of deserving winners to Florida to watch the series finale, and we will honour that. Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series.”

Saturday Night Takeaway will return on 31st March at 7pm on ITV

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