The ratings went sky high when Declan Donnelly presented Saturday Night Takeaway by himself on Saturday (March 31)
Production on the long-running entertainment show was plunged into chaos when Ant McPartlin pulled out of the forthcoming episodes due to entering rehab after a drink-driving incident that happened last month, leaving the rest of the series in jeopardy.
While last weekend's show was cancelled, Dec revealed he would be presenting the last two episodes of the current series by himself, marking the first time in the pair's 13-year presenting history either of them have gone solo.
Indeed, Saturday's episode was the first time Dec would present the show alone, and he needn't have worried about the ratings, as his first standalone attempt turned out to be a complete success.
According to Tellymix, an average audience of 7.7 million viewers tuned in to Takeaway on Saturday night, with a peak audience of 8.6 million.
As well as securing more than 400,000 viewers than the previous episode, the show was up over 1 million viewers on the 2017 series, although it didn't quite match the series high of 7.8 million set by the landmark 100th episode earlier this month.
The series finale will air live from Florida next Saturday (April 7), featuring Hollywood actress Denise Richards and singer Craig David.
Come on, Dec. We're all rooting for you.
Saturday Night Takeaway continues next Saturday (April 7) on ITV.
