Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly’s show Saturday Night Takeaway aired its last episode in April before going on an indefinite hiatus

Ant and Dec are working on a secret TV project to replace their hit Saturday Night Takeaway.

The pair have trademarked the name Belta Box for the plan in a nod to their home town Newcastle – Belta means excellent in the North East. ITV hit Saturday Night Takeaway ended in April.

The new trademark was lodged by Ant and Dec’s production company Mitre Studios the same month. It covers TV, radio, online and podcast shows and merchandise too, so Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, both 48, can make the most of the show’s popularity.

A telly source said: “Everything Ant and Dec does turns to gold and this is sure to be another success.” Mitre Studios also owns trademarks for Ant and Dec’s ITV game show Limitless Win and online show Taste Mates. The firm said: “Taste Mates and Belta Box are digital projects that will tap into the Mitre core values of being fun and engaging.”

It comes after Ant and Dec said their Saturday night show was going on hiatus. The long-running game show has been on ITV since 2002, churning out over 130 episodes across 20 impressive seasons. But as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end – and last year show hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly blindsided fans by revealing they would end the show in 2024.

It comes after Ant and Dec’s Saturday night show went on hiatus (
Image:
Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Viewers watched the most recent season between February and Apil and were able to enter competitions. The live studio audience was dragged into incredible game show sketches, and fans got emotional by the Happiest Minute Of The Week in which the presenters gifted several good Samaritans with wild prizes.

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However, on 13 April, the show came to an end. Last year, they explained their reasoning, with Ant telling fans: “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 then said: “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.” Ant continued: “Next year in 2024 it will be the 20th series of Saturday Night Takeaway and we’ve got some very special look-backs planned, as well as some very exciting new items.” And Dec added: “And we’ve also decided that our 20th series next year will be our last one for a little while. The show takes up such a lot of our year, we just feel we need a little bit of a breather, and that the show is going to take a little bit of a rest.”

The pair then promised that fans would have lots to enjoy in the final season – which they teased might not be the last ever. Ant declared at the time: “But before that though, we’ve got the 20th series to plan.”