Ant McPartlin had a "very emotional meeting" with Declan Donnelly ahead of the former's rehab stay.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly

The 42-year-old television presenter - who underwent treatment for prescription drug and alcohol addiction last summer - has checked back into a treatment facility but met up with his long time presenting partner before heading off.

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Ant and Dec spoke on the phone but hadn't seen each other since the car accident, so it was a very emotional meeting. Dec gave Ant lots of hugs and reassurances that things would be OK. They both have a lot of hard work ahead now."

Just earlier on Wednesday (21.03.17) ahead of their meeting, Ant was charged with drink driving after he was arrested after hitting two cars in his black Mini sports car while driving with his mother in Richmond, south west London on Sunday (18.03.18).

Metropolitan Police confirmed they have charged Ant with the drink driving offence. He was interviewed under caution at Kingston police station on Wednesday (21.03.18) and is set to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on April 4.

Declan will now front the last two episodes of 'Saturday Night Takeaway', on March 31 and April 7, alone.

He said in a statement posted on Ant and Dec's Twitter account: "Whilst I never thought I'd be in this position, after much discussion and careful consideration we've decided that the remaining two shows of this series of 'Saturday Night Takeaway' will go ahead.

"We made a promise to take hundreds of deserving winners to Florida to watch the series finale, and we will honour that. Everyone at ITV and the Takeaway team feels we owe it to the audience to complete the series. Dec x. (sic)"

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