Ant and Dec gatecrash This Morning for anniversary

Ant and Dec have gatecrashed This Morning to celebrate Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s 10-year anniversary.

Willoughby and Schofield were presenting their ITV show as usual when the duo turned up to stage a surprise “takeover”.

“Stop stop stop … stop this nonsense”, they quipped.

“We’re here to gatecrash your lovely This Morning … You don’t need your script for the rest of your morning.”

Ant and Dec said it was “10 years ago” that a “fresh-faced Holly Willoughby joined a certain silver fox on the This Morning sofa for the very first time”.

They joked they were the new This Morning presenters, adding: “Don’t adjust your set.”

A group of guests later entered the studio to help the pair celebrate their anniversary and a montage of  funny highlights through the years were played.

Willoughby said: “It’s gone really quickly. It’s like you guys, working with your best mate.”

The pair were hailed by Gino D’Acampo as the “queen and king of British TV”.

Artist Pricasso, an Australian known for painting with his penis, was also commissioned to make a painting of the duo – although Ant and Dec joked  it had been “impounded”.

Miriam Margolyes, a “favourite guest”, also delivered a video message, saying: “I hope you keep going.”

The pair were also surprised by children from the Down syndrome awareness organisation Wouldn’t Change A Thing, who had previously appeared on the show and who performed You’ve Got A Friend In Me.

There were giggles when one of the children crawled across the sound stage, pursued by both Ant and Dec.

Earlier in the day, Willoughby has said it has been “10 years of pure joy and laughter” to present This Morning alongside Schofield.

Willoughby shared an old photograph of them together on Instagram, writing alongside it: “Happy @thismorning anniversary @schofe … 10 years of pure joy and laughter… so lucky to share a sofa with you”, followed by a double heart emoji.

Schofield, 57, said in an interview earlier in the week that Willoughby was like the sister he never had.

Listing the standout qualities of his co-presenter and friend, he said: “For me in Holly, it’s someone I trust entirely and completely and someone who trusts me, not just on the telly but, you know, with our lives.

“I don’t think there’s anything that we don’t know about each other, we know each other’s strengths and each other’s weaknesses.

“If one is feeling down, the other one will be there to prop them up and make sure they’re OK. She’s like the sister I never had.

“I adore my brother but I never had a sister and Holly is like my younger sister and that’s a lovely position to be in.”

Willoughby recalled her first day on the job in 2009, saying she had been “so, so nervous and holding on to Phil for dear life”.

Off-screen the pair have become good friends and regularly post photographs of themselves on holiday together.

This Morning airs on ITV from 10.30am