Ant McPartlin announced on Thursday he will continue to take a break from all television presenting roles until 2019.
Both he and Declan Donnelly have made the joint decision not to present a new series of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway in Spring 2019 and it will return in 2020.
Ant will also not present I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in November this year – but no further information about the show has been released.
Brave: Ant McPartlin has announced he will halt ALL TV work until 2019 to focus on his recovery… as Declan Donnelly says he’s ‘sad to be without his best friend’
Production and filming for a Saturday Night Takeaway series in February would normally have already started, and continue throughout 2018 and early 2019.
Neither Ant & Dec nor ITV wanted to compromise the quality of the show and therefore felt it was better to rest the series next year.
They will instead bring the show back in 2020, bigger and better than ever.

He’ll be missed: 42-year-old Ant will not present I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in November this year
Ant said in a statement to MailOnline: ‘My recovery is going very well and for that to continue having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off.’
He continued: ‘I’d like to thank both Dec and ITV for their continued support and I look forward to getting back to work in the new year.’
Dec added: ‘Whilst I am obviously sad at the thought of being without my best friend in Australia this year, I am proud of the work Ant has been doing privately and I am fully supportive of his decision.
‘I’m looking forward to us both being reunited on screen in 2019.’
ITV Director of Television Kevin Lygo said: ‘ITV is completely supportive of Ant taking as much time as he needs in his recovery and of this mutual decision to rest Takeaway in 2019.
‘Ant is clearly making good progress and we wish him all the very best and look forward to him returning to ITV next year. An announcement on I’m A Celebrity plans will be made in due course.’
Ant announced his split from his wife, make-up artist Lisa Armstrong in January, and has found romance with her former PA and pal Anne-Marie Corbett.

Woes: Last year, Ant confirmed his battle with drink and drug addiction and was convicted of drink driving (Ant pictured outside Wimbledon Magistrates Court)
Lisa continues to wear her wedding ring and has largely kept a dignified silence following the split.
Troubled presenter Ant first sought rehab treatment in June 2017 after becoming addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol following a botched knee surgery in 2015.
He entered rehab for a second time in March after he was involved in a three-car collision in Richmond and was discovered to be over the limit behind the wheel.
Ant pleaded guilty to drink-driving in April and he received a record-breaking £86,000 fine, as well as a 20-month ban from driving.

Tough time: Ant has been battling personal woes including dealing with the end of his marriage to wife of 11 years, Lisa Armstrong (pictured in 2007)