ITV is holding crisis talks after Ant & Dec announced they are stepping down from Saturday Night Takeaway after 20 years, MailOnline can reveal.
Insiders at ITV say bosses fear they have failed to bring through a new generation of future stars to take over from veteran presenters, fearing viewers are becoming increasingly tired of their ‘Fab Four’ – Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ant and Dec.
The Geordies’ shock decision to pause their long running series comes after the latest instalment attracted underwhelming ratings – and the feud between Holly and Phil has seen This Morning viewers switch off.
Sources have told MailOnline there is no real succession plan in place should the popularity of the ‘Fab Four’ begin to significantly dwindle, with insiders believing the broadcaster should have prepared for this ’15 years ago’.
Insiders at ITV say bosses fear they have failed to bring through a new generation of future stars to take over from veteran presenters, fearing viewers are becoming increasingly tired of their ‘Fab Four’ – Phillip Schofield (right) and Holly Willoughby (left), and Ant and Dec
ITV is holding crisis talks after Ant (left) & Dec (right) announced they are stepping down from Saturday Night Takeaway after 20 years
The source said: ‘ITV has put all their eggs in one basket with Phil, Holly and Ant and Dec.
‘They’re the broadcaster’s biggest stars and there was a strong belief the presenters were invincible.
‘But recent events have proved even these huge assets have a shelf life, and although in Holly and Ant and Dec’s case especially, they have a little longer to run, but there’s no emerging stars coming through who could take on a big Saturday night show and bring in top ratings.
‘Behind the scenes it’s a big concern, with top execs quietly admitting 15 years ago would have been the right time to prepare for this, not now.’
ITV will point to the likes of Joel Dommett and Alison Hammond as presenters they’ve tried to bring through in recent years, but at 37 and 48 years old respectively, they’re hardly seen as stars of the future.
Insiders believe there is a void of stars aged between 20-30 who can not only attract younger audiences, but tap into the fanbase of their current established talent.
With Saturday Night Takeaway being rested, Ant and Dec, both 47, will concentrate on other new formats in the bid to bring a fresh new hit to ITV.
Their last attempt, Limitless Win, echoed the mixed fortunes of their 2011 gameshow Red or Black? which ran for just two series.
Announcing the decision to ‘pause’ Saturday Night Takeaway on Thursday, Ant said: ‘We love making Saturday Night Takeaway, but reaching the milestone of 20 series seemed like the perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath.’
Dec added: ‘We still have a momentous 20th series to look forward to first so we will do our best to go out (for now) with a bang in 2024.’
Meanwhile, ITV are expected to stick by Holly and continue to explore new shows with her at the helm, unlike long-term TV hosting partner Phillip whose future looks bleak given the reports of his on set behaviour and various scandals.
This week the pair completed an awkward four days presenting This Morning admits reports they are ‘no longer speaking backstage’ after a rift which is showing no signs of healing.
The duo have still yet to address their feud on air, over a week since Phillip admitted in a statement that the pair’s relationship had become strained, which irked Holly who was left blindsided by his comments.
ITV will point to the likes of Joel Dommett (right) and Alison Hammond (centre; Dermot O’Leary left) as presenters they’ve tried to bring through in recent years, but at 37 and 48 years old respectively, they’re hardly seen as stars of the future
Phillip told The Sun: ‘The last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us’ but his comments reportedly angered his co-host, who was left blindsided by the message.
Holly was also upset to learn via a third party about Phillip’s brother’s Timothy’s child sex case which took place in March, which resulted in her co-host being absent for three weeks.
Phillip has been the target for numerous former This Morning guests and ex-presenters in recent weeks, keen to stick the knife in, but on Wednesday Holly was blasted by TV cleaner Kim Woodburn in an extraordinary rant.
Speaking on GB News, Kim – who used to regularly appear on the This Morning sofa – said: ‘Well she’s a two-faced b**** isn’t she? I’ll say it again, Holly Willoughby is not all sweetness and light.
‘For years she said “I’ll stick by Phil, I love Phil, we love each other”. The moment she knows that bullets are being fired at Phil she’s now saying I’ll work without him, I’ll run the show without him.’
The heated rant continued with: ‘She’s paid to have a point of view but she’s taken shed loads of money to [giggles] go “Oh Phil.” They need to go.’
ITV has been contacted for comment.
