Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway stages emotional mother-daughter reunion

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly staged an emotional reunion between a mother and a daughter who had not seen each other in five years for Saturday Night Takeaway’s penultimate episode.

Saturday evening’s show saw the Geordie duo select audience member Jane from Birkenhead to get involved in their segment Spot The Difference, where participants have to point out what has changed within a scene to win cash.

In this round, Jane was surprised to see radio and TV presenter Jordan North sitting in her pink dressing gown, relaxing in her living room.

She was asked to take in all the details of the room before the live feed was stopped and restarted after North had rearranged different items.

Jane was award £300 for spotting three differences, but she failed to spot the main change which was that the broadcaster had been swapped out for her daughter, who wore a Jordan North mask.

When asked if she knew who was behind the mask by McPartlin, Jane admitted she had no idea.

After her daughter Holly removed the mask to reveal her face, her mother could be seen gasping and clutching her mouth as she cried in shock.

She was surprised further as it was revealed Holly was accompanied by her partner Lewis and their baby daughter, whom Jane has not seen yet as the young family live in Australia.

After an emotional Jane said “I can’t wait to get home”, Donnelly revealed that she would not have to wait until she got back to Birkenhead to see them.

The stage doors then opened to reveal the young family standing on a replica set of Jane’s living room which had been recreated in the studio.

As McPartlin guided Jane down the stairs to see her family, he said: “Jane follow me because you haven’t been able to see them for five years and you’ve never met your granddaughter so we secretly flew them all the way from Australia so you could say hello.”

The emotional mother then embraced her daughter in a tight hug before stroking her granddaughter’s face.

To round off the surprises, the presenting duo revealed the whole family were being sent on a getaway so they could properly reunite together.

The show also saw Take That perform a rendition of their hit song Shine after comedian and teenage actor Lenny Rush, the star guest announcer for the week, opened the episode.

Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will wrap up its 20th series next Saturday with an extended two-hour live show featuring a host of celebrity guests.

Girl band Girls Aloud will be the star guest announcers while pop group S Club, rockers Kaiser Chiefs and TV star Scarlett Moffatt are among the famous faces set to make an appearance during the grand finale.

McPartlin and Donnelly previously announced they were going to take a break from the show at the conclusion of the series as they feel it is the “perfect time to pause for a little while and catch our breath”.

Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway returns on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.