Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley would have been surprised if he tuned into the latest episode of Saturday Night Takeaway as fans made a protest against him live on air.
The moment, which was picked up by many Magpies supporters watching at home, came about after Ant and Dec crossed to New York in North Tyneside for a live link anchored by Andi Peters.
As Andi explained that he thought he'd be in the Big Apple rather than near Newcastle, many locals got themselves on camera at New York social club and as you can see in the video above, right at the back of the crowd there was a barrier reading 'Sports Neglect...Give Us Our Club Back', another dig at the club's unpopular owner and his company Sports Direct.
The banner caused a huge stir on social media. One eagle eyed viewer tweeted: "Imagine there’s just been a protest against Mike Ashley on Saturday Night Takeaway," and another reacted: "As if someone has just used Ant and Dec Saturday Night Takeaway as an opportunity to protest against Mike Ashley ."
A third posted: "The mags man using ant and dec’s Saturday night takeaway to protest against Ashley.. unbelievable scenes," and then noticing how it suddenly disappeared from view, another tweeted: "Ant & Dec's saturday night takeaway live in Newcastle and someone's brought a 'Sports Neglect, give us our club back' banner against Mike Ashley. Quickly removed haha."
On the pitch, NUFC had a rather frustrating Saturday afternoon, drawing 0-0 at St James' Park against Burnley.
