Despite being hard hit by the credit crunch, ITV have hinted that they have been able to hang on to three of their biggest stars.

The Sun reports that when asked if Simon Cowell and Ant & Dec would be remaining with the channel, ITV’s chief operating officer John Cresswell said: “Yes, all three of them.”

An ITV spokesman added: “Ant and Dec and Simon Cowell are very important members of the ITV family and have themselves talked publicly about their commitment to the channel.

“We are in discussions about working with them in the future.”