Popular TV hosting duo Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins have dealt another hammer blow to the credibility of the beleaguered ITV chat show ‘The Nightly Show’ by declining to present it, saying that they were too busy to do so.

The duo, whose demand has been extremely high since they fronted ‘The Great British Bake Off’, have confirmed that they won’t be stepping up to present the programme, which has a rotating guest host week-by-week.

In a joint statement on Thursday (March 9th), the pair said: “We were approached to take part in the series however, due to our busy schedule we were unable to make the dates work. We do wish the team all the best with the remainder of the series.”

Mel and SueMel and Sue with 'Bake Off' judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood

A spokesperson for ITV echoed the same sentiment, but saying that, contrary to some reports that the duo had actually pulled out of a contract, the presenters had never actually signed up in the first place.

“Mel and Sue were never signed to present ‘The Nightly Show’. The production team undertook discussions with them about the possibility of presenting a week but due to their hectic schedule this wasn’t possible.”

More: Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins will NOT follow ‘The Great British Bake Off’ to Channel 4

Bringing the popular American TV format of the weeknight topical comedy / chat show to Britain, ‘The Nightly Show’ debuted on ITV last week with David Walliams at the helm, but it was almost universally panned by viewers, with ratings dipping drastically.

Its initial run will see a number of different hosts having a go each week, with comedian John Bishop taking the current second week and the likes of Davina McCall, Dermot O’Leary and Gordan Ramsay set for the coming weeks.

“Because they moved the news, I think people were sort of angry about that,” Walliams explained when asked why he felt the ratings were so sluggish. “I think the problem was ITV News was not getting many viewers for ITV so they wanted to try something different.”

More: ITV’s ‘The Nightly Show’ slammed by viewers on its first night