was forced to make a dramatic exit from Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway due to illness. The presenter caused last-minute changes to the show after being hit with a brief illness. The 47-year-old TV host informed producers yesterday morning that he was too sick to make it to the West
London studios, confirmed, without disclosing the specifics of his ailment. In 2022, Stephen took a hiatus from television after undergoing a medical procedure in hospital - a fact that came to light when fans of Saturday Night Takeaway started questioning his absence. His non-appearance on Saturday's episode meant that Ant and Dec had to rework his segment to include Jordan North instead. The second-to-last episode of ITV's primetime entertainment show was supposed to feature Stephen in a sketch with the duo, but they were compelled to alter plans and exclude him from the programme. An insider told : "Stephen was due to be on a small section of the show, but sadly he was feeling a bit too poorly to perform. He called first thing on Saturday morning to let the team know. They were able to rejig the format and make it work without him." ITV has verified that Stephen will still take part in the final episode of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, a special two-hour Farewell Spectacular scheduled for next Saturday, reports . Saturday's episode of the show saw Take That light up the stage with their End of the Show Show performance, which had fans at home divided in their opinions. The Geordie duo Ant and Dec also found themselves on the receiving end of some cheeky antics in a special twist on the classic ... Get Out Of My Ear segment. TV favourites Alison Hammond, Dermot O'Leary, Simon Cowell, , Craig David, and Richard Madeley, all previous participants, took control and had Ant and Dec dancing to their tune in the hilarious feature. The news follows Ant and Dec's candid chat about their decision to put the beloved Saturday night staple on hold after this series. Speaking to Fault magazine, Ant revealed the personal reasons behind the hiatus: "Part of the reason we're pausing Takeaway is we need a break ourselves, and we need to spend some time with our family. We've both got children that we need to spend time with for a little bit." "We need time to think and, and time to step back and look at the bigger picture and just see where we are now. Like I say, we're turning 49, and what do we want to do next? What's the next phase of our career? " he continued, "And we've got lots of ideas and lots of offers on the table, lots of options of things we can do. "But it's working on what we do next and where the next chapter begins. So that's what we're gonna do when SNT is out of the way. We'll sit down, take a bit of time, and re-evaluate everything."