Amanda Holden PULLS OUT of Saturday Night Takeaway hours after hitting back at ... trends now

Amanda Holden pulled out of an appearance in the final episode of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway hours after hitting back at Sharon Osbourne following her explosive comments.

The Britain's Got Talent judge was expected to appear in the two-hour special live in the studio, but was noticeably absent when it hit screens.

Last week, Amanda joined forces with Simon Cowell to appear on a special edition of Get Me Out Of Me Ear! to get revenge on the presenting duo after being at the mercy of their jokes in the past. 

She and other stars who took part, including Davina McCall, Alison Hammond and Rylan, were set to look-back at the hilarious segment live in the last ever edition of Saturday Night Takeaway.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Amanda Holden for comment. 

After Sharon branded Amanda an 'ill-informed sycophantic' in an acid-tongued social media letter, the presenter says she stands by what she said, while acknowledging the X Factor judge's 'incredible' career. 

A spokesperson for the actress told MailOnline on Saturday: 'Amanda is aware of Sharon’s incredible career but, just like her, Amanda will always defend those close to her.' 

Amanda had previously defended Simon Cowell on Friday, calling Sharon, 71, and Louis Walsh, 71, 'bitter and pathetic' after they tore into the music mogul on Celebrity Big Brother.

In an acid-tongue letter posted on X, Sharon blasted Amanda after she said Simon had 'given them a lot of money and a lifestyle they probably wouldn't have had'.

Amanda had told the Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine: 'I hated seeing certain people in a reality show dissing Simon - he's the person who's given them all the chances, given them a lot of money and a lifestyle they probably wouldn't have had. 

'It's bitter and pathetic. It was like Cinderella with her two sisters in the background - just stabby, stabby, stabby.'

You can read the interview in Weekend magazine in full by clicking here. 

12 hours later, Sharon took to Twitter to issue the presenter with a full statement and accused her of being an 'ill informed sycophantic'. 

Sharon's daughter Kelly also weighed in on the feud as she jumped to her mother's defence.

Taking to her Instagram Story, the TV personality, 39, shared a cryptic clip by author Daniel Chidiac which discussed not letting people disrespect you. 

In the clip, Daniel said: 'Some people are really so delusional that they think it's disrespectful when you don't just sit back and allow them to disrespect you anymore.'

X Factor duo Jedward also weighed in on the row, as they took to Twitter to share their opinion writing: 'Think @SimonCowell needs to fight his own battles and settle this drama!'

Comedian Kathy Burke also shared her response writing: 'Saturday morning Twitter is better than Saturday night telly.'