Footage of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly dressed up as Jamaican women has resurfaced amid the Gucci blackface scandal.
The clip, taken from an episode of Saturday Night Takeaway in 2003, shows the duo pranking the cast of Emmerdale as “Patty and Bernice”.
They appear as extras in the background, causing a stir as the soap’s actors Emily Symons and Elizabeth Estensen are trying to deliver their lines.
McPartlin and Donnelly can be heard saying, in an exaggerated accent: “Thank you for allowing us be on your TV programme, it’s very kind of you.”
As part of the same segment, in which Ant and Dec go undercover to surprise celebrities, they dressed up as Japanese girls Suki and Keiko, Bollywood stars Davinder and Randeep and US rappers Milk Z and Donkey Man.
Other stars to have been caught up in the blackface controversy include Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who used it for their comedy shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me.
Last week, Italian brand Gucci faced backlash after photos of its $890 (£688) “balaclava jumper”, featuring a cut-out mouth and red lips, was said to resemble blackface.
Gucci has since removed the jumper and issued a public apology.
In a letter to Gucci employees, creative director Alessandro Michele expressed the pain he felt that one of his creative projects was seen as “an intolerable insult”.
“I feel the need to write you all these few words to give a name to the pain of these days,” Michele wrote.
“My own and that of the people who saw in one of my creative projects an intolerable insult.”
