 The Ball and Theakston series are considered to be when Live & Kicking was at its peak in popularity . After their final series in 1999 , it was believed the BBC would replace Live & Kicking with another programme , as its two predecessors had both lasted six years . Instead , they continued with Live & Kicking , with new presenters Emma Ledden and Steve Wilson . The series was the beginning of the end for the show ; Ledden and Wilson did not know each other at the start of the series , and so there was none of the interaction between them , as seen between Ball and Theakston . Additionally , SMTV Live which broadcast opposite on ITV was slowly becoming more popular , and gaining the audience the BBC was losing . After just one series , Ledden and Wilson 's contracts were not renewed . Wilson later said that they were dropped just as they were starting to form a relationship , and that <unk> & Dec , presenters of SMTV Live , had the edge over them as they had known each other much longer . Ledden had already been dropped when Wilson went through several meetings with the BBC . He decided it was better to leave after one good series , rather than do a second " lame " series , and went on to appear in rival SMTV Live 's 100th show , in the Friends <unk> , ' <unk> ' . When Live & Kicking returned in October 2000 , it was completely revamped , with brand new titles and a line @-@ up of four presenters . However , this did nothing to increase viewing figures , and the chemistry between the presenters was even less apparent . It was decided not to end the show in April and replace it with a summer show , because the replacement <unk> had lost even more viewers for the BBC . Live & Kicking continued until September after a move to Glasgow where the summer show had normally been filmed . Just before the move it was announced it would be the final series . The principal reason given for the decision was the increasing loss of viewers to SMTV Live , which had a similar format and was more successful . Live and Kicking was replaced by The Saturday Show , fronted by <unk> Behr and Joe <unk> , which was shown all year round until September 2003 when it began an Autumn @-@ Spring / Summer loop with Dick and <unk> in da <unk> . Live & Kicking was featured in the BBC 's It <unk> with <unk> Shop programme in 2006 , where Noel Edmonds interviewed the first pair of presenters , Andi Peters and Emma Forbes , about their time on the show . 
