Ant and Dec joked about boredom and lockdown fatigue as Saturday Night Takeaway returned to ITV but without a live studio audience.
Coronavirus restrictions meant the flagship variety show, now on its 17th series, was filmed live in front of a virtual audience of 300 people.
The show opened with a black and white sketch of the duo staying at home through January and early February, looking bored and depressed as they baked endless banana bread and did jigsaws in their pyjamas.
They call this the @antanddec effect 😏 ROLL TITLES! #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/Q3WNafhh07
— Saturday Night Takeaway (@itvtakeaway) February 20, 2021
The pair then read in a newspaper about the show coming back and looked thrilled as the sketch became full colour and they were suddenly dressed in suits.
At the start of the show, Ant McPartlin said: “We are so excited to be back in the studio.
“Obviously things will be a bit different this year but it will be an absolute privilege to bring you a takeaway every night for the next seven weeks.”
GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK BOYS! @antanddec #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/L4vzr1R2j7
— Saturday Night Takeaway (@itvtakeaway) February 20, 2021
Declan Donnelly introduced the virtual audience and said: “For the first time ever we can see in the living room live of 300 people, make sure you’re all decent please.”
The TV duo surprised teacher Kath Crawley with a tribute ahead of her retirement, which featured an appearance from Jason Manford dressed as Father Christmas.
Aw, such a deserving winner! Thank you Kath Crawley and every teacher out there for being so amazing! ❤️ #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/2Wa4OLkyOh
— Saturday Night Takeaway (@itvtakeaway) February 20, 2021
Meanwhile, Stephen Mulhern hosted a selection of fairground games dressed in an all gold outfit, including short shorts.
Harry and Jamie Redknapp took part in the segment I’m A Celebrity…Get Out Of Me Ear, in which they interviewed staff for a fictional restaurant, and had to repeat everything the TV duo told them to say.
There are so many jokes we could make about Harry saving Sandra Redknapp from the bin, but they'd all be rubbish #SaturdayNightTakeaway pic.twitter.com/slGBhGXYKr
— Saturday Night Takeaway (@itvtakeaway) February 20, 2021
Saturday Night Takeaway will also have a new companion show on the ITV Hub.
The seven 10-minute episodes will feature new interviews with Ant and Dec and behind-the-scenes gossip.
The last series of the variety show aired without a live audience for the first time in 18 years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They hosted the final episode from the sofas in their own homes.
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway continues on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV.