Ant McPartlin ‘working hard on himself’ after tragic drink driving conviction

Declan Donnelly has spoken highly of Ant McPartlin for turning his life around after being convicted of drink driving in 2018 and becoming a ‘better person’

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Declan Donnelly praises Ant McPartlin for turning his life around(Image: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

Since leaving Byker Grove, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly quickly became the golden duo of television. But in 2018, their reign took a huge blow after Ant was arrested after being involved in a drink-driving crash in west London.

The crash came after Ant, 50, had spent time in rehab for an addiction to alcohol and painkillers. But now, nearly eight years on, Declan appears to have nothing but heartfelt admiration for this best pal for turning his life around since the drink fuelled collision, which left a four year old passenger of one of the vehicles he hit, needing medical treatment.

At the time, the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here host had been on his way back from walking his dogs in Richmond Park when he hit a BMW and another Mini Cooper. He was given an £86,000 fine, a 20-month driving ban which was reduced by five months and was also ordered to take a drink-driving referral course.

Speaking to The Times about Ant’s lifestyle change, Declan said: “What I most admire is that with the challenges he’s faced, especially over the last few years, Ant took responsibility and real action.” He added: “He worked on himself so much to get back not just to being himself but actually being a much better person than he was before.”

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Ant McPartlin was arrested in 2018 for drink-driving

The crash came following the breakdown of his 11 year marriage to make-up artist Lisa Armstrong. Standing outside Wimbledon Magistrates Court at the time, he addressed waiting media and issued his statement.

He said: “I just want to say I’m truly sorry for what happened. Higher standards are expected of me, I expect them of myself. I let myself down, I let a lot of people down, and for that I’m truly sorry.” Ant continued: “I would like to apologise to everyone involved in the crash and I’m just thankful nobody was seriously hurt.”

Ant took a step back from hosting his scheduled TV shows after pleading guilty and sent himself back to rehab once again. Former This Morning host Holly Willoughby replaced Ant to host I’m A Celebrity while Dec led two episodes of their quiz show, Saturday Night Takeaway.

Ant had taken a year off from his TV commitments and returned in 2019 to host Britain’s Got Talent. Two years later after putting his split with Lisa firmly behind him, he met and married his former personal assistant Anne-Marie. And 24-months later the couple welcomed their first child together.

While Ant was working on himself during his stint in rehab for the second time, it seems his actions had a huge ripple effect as Declan admits that he contemplated going solo professionally. He said he found Ant’s behaviour “indefensible.”

He told The Guardian: “How could he do that? I wanted to punch him and hug him at the same time – and I didn’t know which one I wanted to do first.” In a candid admission Ant then explained: “It wasn’t until I’d gone away and rested that it kicked in. I was having sleepless nights. The shame and guilt were horrendous. Whatever state I’m in, drink-driving is an inexcusable act.”

Ant and Dec were recently forced to publicly apologise on the back of their advert for their new podcast Hanging Out With Ant and Dec. In the advert the pair’s feet are the only thing visualised at first. Dec is then heard asking Ant: “Did you agree to this?”

In response, Ant replied: “No, I thought this was your idea.” Before the pair are then seen hanging by the shoulders to a clothesline, Dec said: “This is not what we meant by ‘hanging out.”

But their promotional video did not go down well at all among fans. And even X Factor star Katie Waissel waded in on the argument as she described their advert as “sickening and deeply disappointing.” Taking to X, she fumed: “This opening visual of feet suspended above the ground is not a harmless ‘play on words’, it immediately reads as someone hanging, and the suicide imagery is impossible to ignore.”

She added: “With a platform as large as yours, there is a clear duty to act responsibly. This is entirely foreseeable harm. It’s triggering, insensitive, and frankly reckless to push out as ‘entertainment’ when so many families have been devastated by suicide and self-harm.”

The duo released a statement soon after and apologised for their offensive use of language and imagery and confirmed that it had been taken down.