'we are sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended'

Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have apologised for using blackface in Saturday Night Takeaway.

The ITV presenters have dressed as Japanese girls and Jamaican women while Ant has dressed as an Arabic man.

In reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the world, the pair issued a statement, saying: ‘During past episodes of Saturday Night Takeaway we impersonated people of colour in the undercover segment of the show.

‘We realise this was wrong and want to say that we are sincerely sorry to everyone that was offended.

‘We purposely stopped doing this several years ago and certainly would not make 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steps to ensure footage was taken down and have again recently confirmed with ITV that these segments, and any other historical content, that could cause offence, does not appear on either the ITV Hub or the Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel.’

The pair went undercover as two Jamaican women Patty and Bernice to trick the cast of Emmerdale cast in 2003. The following year, they dressed up as two Japanese girls with exaggerated accents for another stunt on the set of Coronation Street.

Their statement came as Little Britain, Come Fly With Me, The League Of Gentleman, Bo’Selecta and the work of Australian comedian Chris Lilley has been pulled from various streaming platforms because of their use of blackface.

Published: 10 Jun 2020