Declan Donnelly leaves Saturday Night Takeaway viewers in tears as he performs Everybody Needs Somebody without Ant McPartlin

DECLAN Donnelly moved Saturday Night Takeaway viewers to tears as he performed Everybody Needs Somebody without Ant McPartlin.

The 42-year-old opened the finale of the series by singing the poignant Blues Brothers’ song as he presented for the second time ever without Ant, and emotional fans were certain there was a message for his troubled best pal in there.

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One said: “Sure this song has a lil meaning for ant ❤ #AntAndDecSaturdayNightTakeaway”

Another added: “Decs little message to Ant ‘I need you’ 💔��💔”

A third tweeted: “I’m crying already!! @itvtakeaway #SaturdayNightTakeaway”

While others loved his performance.

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One fan tweeted: “OMG - didn't Dec do well on the intro? Love him to bits, he is doing so amazing without Ant xx #AntAndDecSaturdayNightTakeaway”

A second posted: “Dec absolutely nailing the opening of #SaturdayNightTakeaway 👏👏👌👍 #legened @itvtakeaway @antanddec”

And a third wondered: “Is Dec planning to launch a different solo career with that opening number? #SaturdayNightTakeaway”

This comes as Dec praised by a family who won a trip to Orlando with Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway for ensuring the show went ahead.

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More than 200 lucky viewers were flown out to Florida this week for the programme's live finale after being surprised with tickets to Universal Resorts Orlando throughout the series.

After Ant stepped down from TV commitments following a drink driving charge last month, there were fears the show may not be going ahead with ITV cancelling one episode.

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Yet Dec opted to continue with the final two shows of the series, saying he wanted to "honour" the trip for the hundreds of winners.

This week nine-year-old Angel Sutton from Scarborough travelled in the specially chartered Virgin Holidays plane for the airing of the episode alongside her mother, Tina, father, Paul, and foster brother, Alec.

Angel has undergone numerous operations and had both legs amputated after she was born with a genetic condition.

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Speaking in Orlando she described the week as "the best trip ever" while Tina, who adopted Angel when she was a baby, labelled Dec "incredible" for continuing without his regular TV partner of nearly 30 years.

"God bless Ant, we love them both but in the run-up we just thought how on earth is this guy (Dec) going to do this... separated after all these years," Tina, 51, told the Press Association.

"But I knew when it happened he'll do it."

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