Ant and Dec reveal the real reason they're pausing Saturday Night Takeaway

Ant and Dec have decided to step back from 'Saturday Night Takeaway' so they can spend more time with their families.

The Geordie duo, both 48, front the variety show in the early months of the year before hosting 'Britain's Got Talent' in the spring and then go onto 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' in the winter, but they have now explained their self-titled light entertainment show will be taking a back seat because they "need a break" after 20 series.

Ant- who is expecting his first child with his wife Anne-Marie Corbett - told Fault Magazine: "We do the show and then 'Britain’s Got Talent', but on a more personal level, 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. You know, like I say, 'We’re turning 49, and what do we want to do next? What’s the next phase of our career?' 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 'Saturday Night Takeaway' is out of the way. We’ll sit down, take a bit of time, and reevaluate everything."

Meanwhile, Dec - who has Isla, five, and 18-month-old Jack with his wife wife Ali Astall - shot to fame alongside Ant when they appeared on hit children's' drama 'Byker Grove' in the 1990s, and the pair have admitted being able to "maintain" such a friendship for so long is a result of "compromise" and allowing each other space.

He said: "We started working together when we were 13, and we became friends very quickly. But, you know, we’re both, were are both 49 this year. We’re obviously not the same people that we were when we were 13. So throughout our career, you know, we’ve both changed.

"But being able to maintain that friendship doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes you have to work with friendships, and sometimes you have to compromise and sometimes you have to give each other space and time and whatever."