Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead for the remainder of its new series but with big changes ITV have revealed.
After Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned against mass gatherings in his speech to the nation, a number of big events have been pulled including Radio 1's Big Weekend, Glastonbury and the Grand National, as well as a whole host of acts postponing or cancelling tours including The Who, Craig David and Riverdance.
The spread of coronavirus has also affected TV shows with Loose Women filming with no audience and EastEnders suspending filming as well as the BBC halting filming on Casualty, Holby City, Doctors and River City too.
And now, after the show's Florida finale was cancelled and Ant and Dec hinted coronavirus might halt Takeway, it has with ITV revealing that the biggest course of action will be the fact the remaining shows in the new series will take place without a studio 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.
After Saturday's show, worried viewers voice their concerns about how coronavirus might jeopardise Takeaway. One tweeted: "If Saturday Night Takeaway gets cancelled due to the corona virus, I will riot," and another "'We will 'HOPEFULLY' be back here next week'? What do you mean 'hopefully'? Saturday Night Takeaway MUST continue regardless of the Coronavirus!"
