Ant McPartlin to return to TV screens with pre-recorded Britain's Got Talent audition shows
Ant McPartlin will be reunited with Declan Donnelly on TV screens this weekend as Britain's Got Talent airs its pre-recorded audition shows.
The presenter is seen laughing, dancing and at one point close to tears in the first episode of series 12 which was filmed back in January.
He is expected to appear throughout the auditions which run to the end of May but will be absent from the full week of live shows after he stepped down from his TV commitments following a drink drive charge in March.
ITV confirmed this week that Dec will be hosting the live shows solo after he presented the final two episodes of the duo's Saturday Night Takeaway without his TV partner of almost 30 years.
The duo have fronted BGT since its inception in 2007 and have a golden buzzer option on the show which allows them to send an act directly to the competition's live semi-final.
An escapologist, a magician and a dance troupe set up by former Britain's Got Talent winner Ashley Banjo all feature in Saturday night's episode which sees Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden return as judges.
Magician Marc Spelmann from north London will wow the judges and Ant and Dec with his emotional trick which features a Rubik's Cube, crayons, his wife's favourite book and the couple's two-year-old daughter who overcame cancer as a baby after being born through IVF.
"You got me in tears man, remarkable," Ant tells the contestant following his trick.
Meanwhile an acrobat who was labelled "boring" by Cowell prior to his audition will redeem himself according to Walliams, who called it the "most thrilling two minutes we've ever had on Britain's Got Talent".
Holden will be seen growing emotional when a choir raising awareness of blood donation auditions, because the issue is so important to her after she haemorrhaged during childbirth.
The star lost several pints of blood and had to undergo a life-saving transfusion after having her second daughter, Hollie, in 2012.
The variety show will also feature a Japanese contestant who requires a translator before offering an incredible series of tricks whilst fully naked.
McPartlin was charged by postal requisition on March 21 after allegedly being involved in a collision with two other cars while he was driving his Mini in Richmond, west London, on March 18.
The TV presenter was due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on April 4, but the hearing was adjourned to April 16, a spokeswoman for the court said.
Britain's Got Talent airs at 8pm on ITV on Saturday.