Piers Morgan has publicly advised Declan Donnelly to carry on working without his co-presenter Ant McPartlin, following his arrest on suspicion of drink-driving.
After the incident over the weekend, Ant subsequently pulled out of all his TV commitments, choosing to return to treatment, and throwing the future of the shows the pair host together into doubt.
While this weekend’s ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ has been pulled from the schedules, bosses are currently discussing how the rest of the series will air without Ant.
Dec’s involvement in ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ as well as the upcoming ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ live shows and the next series of ‘I’m A Celebrity’ is still unclear, given the pair had previously vowed one would never work without the other.
However, Piers, who worked with the pair on the first four series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has said he believes Dec should break the pact as the show must go on.
Speaking on Wednesday’s (21 March) ‘Good Morning Britain’, Piers said: “What does he do? You’ve got the rest of Saturday Night Takeaway, you’ve got Britain’s Got Talent coming up, I’m A Celebrity – does Dec Donnelly now have to come off TV as well?
“I think Dec is going through a real crisis himself now about what to do career-wise. I honestly do think the show must go on. And even though they always agreed they wouldn’t do it without each other, that’s under normal circumstances.”
He continued: ″[Dec] is devastated for his mate but also he’s worried about the Ant and Dec brand – it’s the biggest brand in the country on television and it’s being damaged,” the host continued. “He’s got to make a decision.
“I think the time has come, given it’s the second time round on this, for Dec to be not selfish but look after himself too. He’s very successful in his own right.
“I think Ant will have to say, ‘I told him to do it’,” Piers went on.
“They’ve got big teams working with them on these shows and their lives are affected as well. So that would be the right thing to do. I think Dec should carry on with somebody else if necessary.”
Piers concluded: “I’ve been concerned about him as all his friends have. But there is also a point where a lot of other people are affected by this. And I do think the show has to go on.”
Writing in their 2010 autobiography, ‘Ooh! What a Lovely Pair’, Ant and Dec previously detailed their vow to only work with one another.
“We made an agreement – whatever happened, we’d be mates forever and neither one of us would ever be on our own out there.
“If it all ended tomorrow, we’d still speak ever day, we’d still see each other all the time and we’d still be best mates,” Ant wrote. “And that’s something we’re both very proud of.”
Agreeing with him, Dec added: “Throughout it all, we’ve always had one constant that’s kept us sane – each other. In two decades, we’ve never spent more than two weeks apart.
“Some people might not understand it but our friendship is a massive, massive part of where we are today.”
‘Good Morning Britain’ airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.