Ant and Dec are accustomed to making fun of others on their Saturday Night Takeaway pranks, but the tables have now been turned on them.
In this week’s episode, the long-running hosts went undercover at a Premier Inn in London to try to dupe visitors as they checked in.
Yet there was one standout victim, Earnest, whose outbursts prompted spectators to demand not just his own TV programme, but also a knighthood.
Instead of being greeted by a receptionist, the tourists were sent to a machine, where they heard what they assumed was an automatic voice checking them in, but turned out to be the lads.
The concealed camera caught it all as Ant and Dec tested the waters to see how far they could stretch the hoax.
Several guests were dissatisfied with having to communicate with AI, but things quickly became more crazier.
Some clients were instructed to’speed up’ while providing their booking reference and were buzzed if they did not, while others were required to stand in front of a microphone to record a message for the hotel’s apparent speech recognition system.
Then things took a change when a guy called Ernest checked in.
He began tapping all of the buttons on the screen, clearly perplexed, and stated that he was interested in technology and wanted to see what would happen.
Playing with what was in front of him, however, quickly became an issue when he managed to damage the microphone and was admonished by the AI receptionist.
‘Stop touching me,’ he was told to which Ernest replied, ‘I should be so lucky’, sending the live audience into fits of laugher.
Then, as he went through the hotel’s facilities, Ernest took care to double-check that everything he was being provided was indeed free before enthusiastically taking the complementary pants and socks.
Ernest had the most unexpected reaction when everything was disclosed.
As others leapt, laughed, and even cursed when they saw Ant and Dec, Ernest yelled out the presenters.
‘This is a bit of a down market job for you two,’ he said.
‘Oh, how the mighty have fallen.’
Ernest had the most unexpected reaction when everything was disclosed.
As others leapt, laughed, and even cursed when they saw Ant and Dec, Ernest yelled out the presenters.
‘I love Ernest, I am crying with laughter,’ one person posted on Twitter.
‘He is having absolutely none of this,’ another added.
Many others referred to him as a legend and an icon, while others advocated for his broader recognition.
This prank fared better with viewers than last week’s, which left the hosts in hot water when they were accused of being “cruel” to a first-time father.
Liam was placed in the firing line of his pregnant partner Amy’s wrath in the hidden camera episode, which lasted eight months, as he was put through a succession of made-up situations.
Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway airs Saturdays at 7pm on ITV.