‘Amicable’ Ant and wife to divorce in weeks
TV PRESENTER Ant McPartlin and wife Lisa Armstrong will be divorced by the end of the year, a source close to the star confirmed last night.
Ant wants “to move on quickly”. He is paying her legal bills and funded a summer trip she took to Los Angeles.
Last month, a judge at London’s Central Family Court made no objection and Ant and his wife of 12 years were granted a decree nisi within 30 seconds.
Court documents show the marriage had “broken down irretrievably” and sources say despite reports of a continued rift, a financial settlement is in sight.
The source said: “Ant is paying for all of Lisa’s legal fees.
“He is still helping her financially, like when she went on holiday to LA when there was a lot of attention on her.
“He is paying for her fees on the divorce and her media lawyer fees. At the moment it is amicable and things are moving forward. Ant wants the divorce done as quickly and fairly as possible so they can move on.” The source said the hope was for a settlement in “weeks rather than months” and completed before Ant returns to TV next year. He is due to start filming Britain’s Got Talent in the New Year and could appear at the National TV Awards on January 22 in which Ant and Dec will again have nominations, despite the fact Ant has been off work for most of 2018 fighting an addiction to drink and prescription drugs.
In April, he was banned from driving for 20 months after a car accident while twice the limit.
He is willing to hand over half of everything he has earned during the marriage, which is estimated at up to £62million.
Last month, Ant showed new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett, who used to be his PA, his childhood haunts in Newcastle.