James Corden could replace Ant in Saturday Night Takeaway’s series finale

James Corden has been tipped to join Saturday Night Takeaway for next month’s series finale.

It was previously confirmed that Dec will front the remaining two shows without Ant, who last week was charged with drink-driving.

Saturday Night Takeaway’s latest episode was cancelled on Saturday, with Ant leaving the show for the rest of the series.

A spokesperson for Ant said last week: “Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments. He’s spoken with Dec and ITV and asked for time off for the foreseeable future.”

It was subsequently confirmed on Wednesday that the final two episodes will go ahead without Ant.

This weekend, Dec will be joined by regular co-stars Stephen Mulhern and Scarlett Moffatt. Stephen Merchant will appear as the weekly Guest Announcer while Paloma Faith will be performing in the End Of The Show Show. Plus, The Script will be taking part in Singalong Live.

The series finale meanwhile will be hosted live from Florida, where show bosses are reportedly lining up ‘big names’ from the worlds of film and TV to appear.

They could include James Corden, according to the Daily Star newspaper.

“Dec has got a big job on his hands fronting a live show from the States all on his own,” a source told the tabloid.

They added: “Although he will have fellow show stars Scarlett Moffatt and Stephen Mulhern there to assist, the producers want to add some sparkle with some big Tinseltown names. We’re confident everyone will jump on board as it’s such a popular family show.”

However a spokesperson for James told the Daily Mirror that he hadn’t been approached yet.

Speaking last week, Dec said of the decision to continue the show without Ant: “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.

“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. Dec x.”

In a statement, ITV said: “ITV can confirm that Saturday Night Takeaway, presented by Declan Donnelly, will return on March 31, and the series finale will be taking place at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida a week later.”