Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway welcomed Stephen Mulhern back to the stage this evening (March 26), following a lay-off with illness.
Presenter of the 'Ant vs Dec' segment, he appeared clothed in Darth Vader-esque gear around the 30-minute mark to introduce Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly's latest head-to-head challenge: in a pitch-black room, they had to try and press the button on each other's light-up pack to win rounds.
In classic Mulhern fashion, he couldn't help but take a cheeky swipe at Takeaway's 'falling ratings' while he was out of action.
Related: Stephen Mulhern labelled "TV's funniest presenter" as In for a Penny premieres on ITV
As his return played out, fans of the show logged onto Twitter to heap praise on the former Ministry of Mayhem star.
"So happy the legendary @StephenMulhern is FINALLY back #SaturdayNightTakeaway xx," wrote one, while two more posts read: "STEPHEN IS BACK YAY #saturdaynighttakeaway" and "Ahh the return of Ant vs Dec.... I laughed sooo much at that! @antanddec Made my week Thanks Stephen @StephenMulhern glad you are back! #SaturdayNightTakeaway."
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"Have really missed Stephen [Mulhern] on #SaturdayNightTakeaway. He is the cherry on the show" and "The king...has returned. Glad Stephen Mulhern is back on TV," added a fourth and fifth fan.
Related: Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway fans in hysterics over confetti incident
Two weeks ago, the man himself broke his silence on being absent from Takeaway.
"Hello all, Sorry I've been quiet on here recently and thank you for all your lovely messages. I've had some time off and been resting up on doctors orders," Mulhern tweeted.
"I'm on the mend, I'm happy to say, and looking forward to getting back to work soon. In the meantime I'll put my feet up and watch Saturday Night Takeaway tonight with the rest of you lot. Please don't miss me too much! Lots of love, Stephen. X."
Good to have you back, champ.
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway resumes next Saturday (April 2) on ITV.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
