Ant and Dec issue apology for ‘impersonating people of colour’ on Saturday Night Takeaway

Ant and Dec has issues an apology to their Twitter followers for ‘impersonating people of colour’ during ‘comedy’ sketches on Saturday Night Takeaway.

They took to the micro-blogging site on Wednesday evening, posting: ‘During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour during the undercover segment of the show.

‘We realise that this was wrong and want to say we ware sincerely sorry for anyone that was offended.

‘We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not do these sketches today 

‘We had already taken steps to ensure footage was taken down and have again recently confirmed with ITV that these segments, and any other historical content that could cause offence, does not appear on the ITV Hub of the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel.’

Last year, the pair were slammed when old footage of the duo in blackface resurfaced. 

During some of their many Ant & Dec Undercover sketches on the hit ITV show, the presenting duo changed their skin colour and wore prosthetics to portray made up characters in an effort to trick their famous friends.

One of the most controversial skits saw them dress up as two fictional Jamaican women, ‘Patty and Bernice’, in an attempt to prank Emmerdale cast members, in 2003.

In the segment the Geordie pair acted as unruly extras in the Woolpack, behaving eccentrically in an effort to distract Louise Appleton (played by Emily Symons) and Diane Sugden (played by Elizabeth Estensen).

The prank was certainly successful, with the soap cast falling about with laughter as they realised they had been duped.

However, an old clip of Ant and Dec discussing their transformation into ‘Patty and Bernice’ on the Saturday Night Takeaway DVD has also resurfaced, and makes for an uneasy watch.

In the clip, Ant appears to be amused as he recalls the particular sketch, joking: ‘It was funny sitting in a room, learning Jamaican, picking dresses, trying on false nails, was something I didn’t think I’d ever, ever do.’

Dec, mimicking a Jamaican accent adds: ‘We had to find who Patty and Bernice were, so we’d have to go “Well, I think Bernice probably came to England on a boat”.’ 

Ant and Dec impersonated people of other races and ethnicities on multiple occasions while filming their Ant & Dec Undercover sketches.   

In 2004, the pair dressed up as two Japanese girls, with prosthetics, elaborate make-up and exaggerated accents used to transform them into Suki and Keiko.

During the skit, the Geordie pair attempted to trick the Coronation Street cast into believing they were in love with Todd Grimshaw, played by Bruno Langley.

In 2005, Ant dressed up as an Arab man, during another Saturday Night Takeaway prank, in which they targeted Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell.

For the skit, Ant sported a keffiyeh – a traditional Middle Eastern headdress – and traditional Arabic clothing.   

Ant and Dec’s representatives declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline at the time.