An emotional Declan Donnelly hosts Saturday Night Takeaway finale without long-time partner Ant McPartlin
Declan Donnely has been finding it hard to go on without his pal Ant McPartlin after the latter's recent DUI arrest. Recently, Dec hosted the finale of 'Saturday Night Takeaway' and at the end of the show, he delivered an emotional speech in which he confessed that he feared disaster hosting the ITV show without Ant.
Throughout the show, Dec tried to remain calm and composed all the while balancing a rollercoaster of emotions that have flooded him ever since Ant was arrested on a DUI harge and sent to rehab. According to The Sun, after watching the show the public overwhelmingly wanted to see the duo back together on the show. Dec's hosting even got him a standing ovation from the audience, but he confessed that it hadn't been easy.
“It’s been the weirdest, weirdest show," he said. "But I wanted to say a huge, huge thank you to lots of people here. Most of all I just wanted to thank you, guys." Dec explained how he wasn't sure how the show would go on without Ant by his side.
"That reception when I came down the stairs . . . I wasn’t sure what was going to happen," he said. "I wasn’t sure how I was going to do or how you were going to react . . . but you carried me all the way through the show. I couldn’t have done it without you guys."
Soon after the show ended, Dec attended the wrap party for the production staff marking the final episode, at ITV’s London Studios. Dec took time out to thank the cast and crew for their support. "To all of tonight’s guests for coming down and spending Saturday night here. Thank you to our amazing production team," he said. “They carried me through the show."
"To all the crew and staff here at the London Studios, which has been our home, not just for tonight but for the last 20 years," he added.
Previously, Dec had referenced his emotions on hosting the show alone, in an Instagram post: "Whilst I never thought I’d be in this position, after much discussion and careful consideration we’ve decided that the remaining two shows of this series of Saturday Night Takeaway will go ahead. We made a promise to take hundreds of deserving winners to Florida to watch the series finale, and we will honour that. Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series. Dec x," he wrote.