Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s flagship ITV show, Saturday Night Takeaway, was hit with nearly 30 complaints following a poorly timed skit.
The comedy scenes in question, part of their regular Men in Brown routine, featured Great British Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood as an evil alien overlord planning to “infect the human scum”.
Hmm.
Paul’s character said, “Now we have the Universal Collider we can open up portal zero-zero and give the whole world the squits.”
And although the squits are not a known symptom of the deadly coronavirus currently sweeping the world, viewers were understandable unimpressed by the choice of jokes.
A spokesperson for the television standards watchdog said, "We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”
CHECK OUT: Ant and Dec's career timeline
Ant and Dec's career timeline (slider)
1 of 8And & Dec: Early career
Ant & Dec as PJ and DuncanIn 1989 Dec landed a part on BBC children's drama Byker Grove, playing Duncan. A year later Ant was cast as PJ – PJ and Duncan was born.Another career change for the boys came in 1994, when they began as co-presenters of children's show Gimme 5 on CITV. Just a year later they landed their own programme, The Ant & Dec Show, this time on CBBC.
2 of 8And & Dec: Early career
Ant & Dec became popstarsIt wasn't just acting for the boys: PJ & Duncan were pop stars for a while, and became best known for their 1994 UK top 10 Let's Get Ready to Rhumble.Their last studio album, The Cult of Ant and Dec, was released in 1997, managing to chart at number 15.
3 of 8And & Dec: Early career
Ant & Dec hosted SMTV and CD
4 of 8Ant & Dec: Primetime career
They hit the prime time with talent show Pop IdolThey presented Pop Idol for two years, before it replaced with The X Factor and Kate Thornton took over.This gave them the opportunity to create and present Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, which is about begin its 13th series.In 2002, a year after Saturday Night Takeaway's debut, the boys joined I'm a Celebrity and have become huge parts of the show.
5 of 8Ant & Dec: Awards
Among their numerous gongs, Ant & Dec have received the National Television Award for Most Popular Entertainment/TV Presenter for 15 years running. Most recently, at the 2018 NTAs, the duo won Best Presenter.
6 of 8Ant & Dec: Relationships
In 2015 Dec married his longtime manager Ali Astall and Ant was, of course, best man. And in July 2006, Dec acted as best man at Ant's wedding to make-up artist Lisa Armstrong. Ant and Lisa, however, filed for divorce this year after 11 years of marriage.
7 of 8Ant & Dec: Friendship
Ant previously revealed his friendship with Dec started in 1990, when he sent him a Christmas card and invited him to a football match.He said: "And that was that. It just happened immediately. We clicked. We'd spend all day making each other laugh and annoying everyone and quoting Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer lines to each other."When their parts were written out of Byker Grove, the boys vowed to stick together. Dec told Weekend magazine: "We made a pact. We said to each other, 'Look, whatever happens, I'll always be there for you and you're never in this life on your own or against the world – you've always got a mate looking out for you."Even though they work together, Ant & Dec make sure they go out together at least once a week – and even live three doors apart in London!Dec said: "It's our choice to socialise outside work. And we both get to go to work with our best mate every day. And that keeps our feet on the ground."Ant added: "We love each other, definitely."
8 of 8Ant & Dec: Britain's Got Talent
Establishing themselves as the busiest presenters in the country, Ant & Dec signed up for Britain's Got Talent in 2006 – and a year later signed a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV, which was thought to be worth £40 million.
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Ant and Dec hosted the hugely popular show from their homes last weekend, after performing to an empty studio the weekend before, in accordance with the current guidelines from the government to avoid travelling unless necessary.
But Saturday Night Takeaway isn’t the only programme to be affected by lockdown.
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Various shows, including TOWIE and Neighbours, have shut down filming all together, while other long running programmes have heavily altered their schedules.
Last month the BBC released a statement about EastEnders programming, saying "In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on EastEnders will be postponed until further notice. The decision was made after the latest government update.
"We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England. We have also taken the decision to reduce the amount of episodes we broadcast each week to two, so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy EastEnders in their homes for as long as possible."