However, Ant made sure to point out that Dec, who is married to talent manager Ali Astall, that he was covered in lipstick.
The pair had just performed an opening routine with a hoard of extras for a St Patrick’s day pub skit on the ITV show.
Ant and Dec arrived at the studio and the latter was given a barrage of kisses from fans in the audience.
But Ant couldn’t let the lipstick mark go unnoticed, knowing that the audience at home would pick up on it.
Wiping his co-host’s cheeks, Ant made a cheeky swipe.
He laughed: “You’ve got lipstick on your face, you dirty devil!”
Fans instantly took to social media to point out Dec’s embarrassment.
One viewer asked: “Is that lipstick on Dec’s face? #SaturdayNightTakeaway.”
“Dec covered in lipstick!!! @antanddec #SaturdayNightTakeaway #Takeaway,” noted another.
A third tweeted: “Dec has lipstick all over his cheeks #SaturdayNightTakeaway.”
“Giggling away at the lipstick all over Dec’s face #SaturdayNightTakeaway,” posted another.
A fifth added: “Dec looks even cheekier with lipstick marks on both his cheeks @itvtakeaway.”
Later in the episode, ITV viewers couldn’t help but notice that Ant may have gone the extra mile and “cheated” during a game to help an audience member.
Ant and Dec were playing a game called Game Of Phones where audience members had to answer a quiz question if their confiscated phone rang while on air.
For one lady in the audience – who Ant noted was a fellow Geordie – recognising William Roache in disguise was a difficult challenge.
Giving her initial answer as “William Right” after the rest of the audience blurted out the answer, Ant repeated the answer until the audience member realised the correct surname was indeed Roache.
Saturday Night Takeaway continues next Saturday on ITV at 7pm.
