ITV has announced that Declan Donnelly will be hosting the next episode of ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ solo, following the arrest of his co-presenter Ant Mcpartlin on suspicion of drink-driving.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster said on Wednesday (March 21st): “We can confirm that ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’, presented by Declan Donnelly, will return to ITV on March 31st, and the series finale will be taking place at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida a week later.”

42 year old McPartlin was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of drink-driving, and has since announced that he’ll be taking a leave of absence from his professional duties in order to seek rehab and personal help. ITV had already announced that this coming weekend’s episode of ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ had been cancelled, with an episode of ‘The Voice UK’ being brought forward to occupy its slot.

Ant McPartlin Declan DonnellyDeclan Donnelly (r) will be presenting 'Saturday Night Takeaway' alone

Donnelly, also 42, who has enjoyed a professional relationship and personal friendship with McPartlin stretching back over two decades, has broken his silence on the events.

“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,” an update on the pair’s Twitter account read on Wednesday.

More: Ant McPartlin arrested in suspected drink-driving crash

“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.”

McPartlin was involved in a collision with two other cars while he was driving his Mini in Richmond, west London, and he was arrested on Sunday afternoon (March 18th) after failing a roadside breathalyser test. He was taken to a south London police station for questioning, and was released under investigation.

The star had revealed last year that he had entered rehab after struggling with addiction to painkillers, following knee surgery in 2015. While his treatment was announced as successful, it also came as his 11 year marriage to wife Lisa Armstrong disintegrated at the end of 2017.

More: Ant McPartlin says he may not come to 2019 NTAs after getting “emotional”