Saturday Night Takeaway season 20 will air a massive format change as the tables are turned on presenters Ant and Dec.
The popular Saturday evening entertainment show returns for 2024 this Saturday (February 24) for its 20th season. To celebrate 20 years of the show, the hosts have turned up the heat for a series first (and, we’re told, last).
The twists involves previously pranked celebrities – finally – getting their revenge on Ant and Dec.
What’s new as Ant and Dec return with Saturday Night Takeaway?
The question should really be: what’s old on Saturday Night Takeaway? Because Ant and Dec are bringing back some of the show’s most beloved segments for a special 20th anniversary outing.
The episode sees the return of two hit segments: Get Out Of Me Ear and Undercover. As long-time fans will know, Get Me Out Of Me Ear is where Ant and Dec tell celebrities what to do using an earpiece. Meanwhile, Undercover is where Ant and Dec dress inconspicuously to prank celebrities in their day-to-day lives.
However, it’s definitely not all old games. In a Q+A with Radio Times prior to the show launch, Ant and Dec announced a very special twist is on the cards. They’ll be doing a Revenge Get Me Out Of Me Ear.
Yep, that means what you think it does. Finally, previously pranked celebrities will be able to get their own back on the popular presenters by telling them what to do with the earpiece instead.
According to Ant, there was no shortage of candidates for the task of embarrassing them. He said: “Normally when you’re trying to get celebrities for things like this it’s hard to pin them down because of busy diaries but we’ve been told that everyone who they asked immediately said yes and made themselves available. We’re very nervous about this.”
The duo will not know in advance which celebrities are pranking them.
Which celebrities will be appearing on this week’s show?
Confirmed celebrities for Saturday night’s premiere include talkshow extraordinaire Lorraine Kelly, BGT boss Simon Cowell and comedian-actor Stephen Merchant.
Lorraine will play the traditional role of the celebrity in the regular Get Me Out Of Me Ear. That means Ant and Dec will be telling Lorraine what to do during the evening’s chaos.
Apparently Lorraine’s immense popularity proved difficult while filming, however! Dec teased: “I thought we got stopped a lot when we were out shopping but my goodness, everybody wants to stop and talk to Lorraine Kelly!”
There’s no confirmation as to whether Lorraine will get a chance for immediate revenge, but we’ve got our fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Simon Cowell takes part in another returning segment Undercover for the second time.
Dec teased that their plan was to end Undercover exactly where it started. He said: “Our first ever Undercover was on Simon in LA when he was a judge on American Idol. So we’ve gone back and got Simon Cowell again.
“We went out to LA and gave him the day from hell whilst he was judging on America’s Got Talent.”
According to Ant: “It was even sweeter getting him the second time round because we also got him during his downtime as he’s riding his bike around Malibu, it’s very, very funny.”
And Stephen Merchant, star of The Outlaws and The Office, will be the show’s Guest Announcer.
Read more: Ant and Dec share first glimpse at Saturday Night Takeaway’s new series after announcing big break
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