Ant and Dec's rehearsals for this weekend's Saturday Night Takeaway have been thrown into chaos as coronavirus spreads across the UK.
On the same day it was announced that this weekend's episode of their hit show would take place minus a studio audience, in line with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's guidance to avoid mass gatherings and 'non essential social contact', the Geordie duo and their team were forced to practice over video call.
After the show's Florida finale was cancelled and Ant and Dec hinted coronavirus might halt Takeway, ITV revealed that the biggest course of action will be the fact the remaining shows in the new series will take place without an audience.
A statement from the channel read: "‘Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead this weekend without a studio audience. Our priority is safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved. ‘The show will be made with a reduced production crew and in accordance with the latest guidance from Public Health England.
"The team are looking forward to bringing our viewers a brilliant show on Saturday evening."
While this weekend's Saturday Night Takeaway will still be 90 minutes long, the episode on March 28 will be reduced to an hour.
And coronavirus has also affected Takeaway rehearsals. Ant and Dec shared a snap of their script meeting on Instagram, which took place from the homes of each team member.
Takeaway producers and script writers were seen waving at their webcams while Ant took a photo on his phone.
They wrote: "A quick hello from a very different #SaturdayNightTakeaway script meeting! We’ll massively miss our studio audience but the show will go on this weekend.
"Stay safe everyone, we’ll see you on the telly this Saturday."
This Saturday's show will feature the prank we've all been waiting for as Ant and Dec get one over on Bradley Walsh for a second time.
