The ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ team will be a couple of members down when it returns later this month, as bosses have announced Little Ant and Dec will be leaving the show.
ITV has confirmed to Digital Spy that Ant and Dec’s (even more) miniature sidekicks will no longer appear on the hit entertainment series after - quite literally - outgrowing the role.
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Little Ant and Dec have left 'Saturday Night Takeaway'
Dave J Hogan via Getty Images
The pair - real names Neil Overend (Ant) and Haydn Reid (Dec) - will be focusing on their education, with Neil moving up to senior school this year, and Haydn about to sit his SATs exams.
Is has also been reported there are no plans to replace them.
HuffPost UK has contacted an ITV spokesperson for additional comment and is awaiting a response.
Neil and Haydn were the second iteration of Little Ant and Dec, with James Pallister and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw being the original miniature Geordie duo from 2003 to 2007.
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The original Little Ant and Dec, James Pallister and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw
Dave Benett via Getty Images
James and Dylan returned to the show as adults in 2013, when they helped launch the hunt to help Ant and Dec find replacements in an ‘Apprentice’ style sketch.
While Little Ant and Dec will not be returning, both Scarlett Moffatt and Stephen Mulhern are expected back on the show when its 15th series kicks off on 24 February.
It will also mark Ant’s first series since checking himself into rehab last year for an addiction to painkillers, which was a result of a botched knee operation.
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'Saturday Night Takeaway' is returning later this month
Ant and Dec, aka PJ and Duncan, in 1994. (Photo credit: Getty)
(02 of17)
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British pop duo PJ and Duncan instore at HMV in 1994. (Photo credit: PA)
(03 of17)
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Ant and Dec, aka PJ and Duncan, in 1994. (Photo credit: PA/Jez C Self/EMPICS Entertainment)
(04 of17)
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Ant and Dec larking about with Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie in 1996. (Photo credit: PA)
(05 of17)
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Pop duo PJ & Duncan in the studio in 1996 (Photo credit: PA)
(06 of17)
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PJ and Duncan in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1996. (Photo credit: PA)
(07 of17)
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Ant and Dec celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Byker Grove with fellow stars in 1998. (Photo credit: Rex Features)
(08 of17)
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Ant and Dec with Cat Deeley in 1998, co-hosts of SMTV://Live. (Photo credit: PA)
(09 of17)
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Anthony McPartlin (left), and Declan Donnelly, Ant & Dec, with their Most Popular entertainment Presenter awards at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2002. (Photo credit: PA)
(10 of17)
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Pop Idol presenters Anthony McPartlin (left) and Declan Donnelly (right) celebrate with Will Young from Hungerford, Berkshire, at the Fountain Studios in London, after he was voted Britain's Pop Idol in 2002. (Photo credit: PA)
(11 of17)
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Pop Idol judges (from left) Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox, pose with show hosts Ant and Dec (Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly) during a press conference at Thames TV in London, to launch a new series of Pop Idol in 2003. (Photo credit: PA)
(12 of17)
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Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly pose with the awards for Best Comedy Entertainment Personality and Best Comedy Entertainment Programme for Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in the Awards Room at the 'British Comedy Awards 2004' on December 22, 2004 at London Television Studios in London. (Photo credit: Claire Greenway/Getty Images)
(13 of17)
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Ant and Dec as The Ugly Sisters in Madame Tussauds Celebrity Pantomime in 2005. (Photo credit: PA)
(14 of17)
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Anthony McPartlin (left) and Declan Donnelly (right) with the Entertainment Performance award received for I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! at the BAFTA television awards at the London Palladium in 2010. (Photo credit: PA)
(15 of17)
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Ant and Dec take part in the 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' Bush Tucker Trial 'Greasy Spoon', in November 2011. (Photo credit: Rex Features)
(16 of17)
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Anthony McPartlin (left) and Declan Donnelly arriving for the 2012 NTA Awards at the O2, Greenwich, London. (Photo credit: PA)
(17 of17)
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Anthony McPartlin (left) and Declan Donnelly with their awards for Entertainment Presenter, backstage at the National Television Awards 2012 at the Greenwich Arena London. (Photo credit: PA)