How can drink-drive Ant produce BBC ‘street-racing’ show?
‘Untapped world of car fanatics’
JUST months after regaining his licence following a drink- drive crash, Ant McPartlin has unveiled plans for ... a street-racing show.
The 43-year-old is producing Street Car Showdown for the BBC with his co-star Declan Donnelly, 44, through their firm Mitre Television.
McPartlin was spotted back behind the wheel in July after serving a 15-month ban. He was initially banned for 20 months after he crashed his Mini while more than twice the legal drink-drive limit in London in March last year.
The ban was shortened after the star took a drink-driving course.
The new show will challenge two teams to convert secondhand cars into highoctane racers. McPartlin and Donnelly will not front the competition due to their contract with ITV.
The Geordie double act came up with the idea for the BBC2 programme, which was inspired by their lifelong ‘fascination’ with the world of car modifiers.
Competitors will have ten days and a tight budget to soup up their cars before they race to become champions.
The pair said: ‘We have been fascinated with this world since we were teenagers in the North East and experienced car modders meeting up on Roker seafront in Sunderland to show off their creations.
‘We came up with the format to shine a light on to the untapped world of car fanatics and highlight their passion, talent and creativity.’
After pleading guilty to drinkdriving, McPartlin was also handed an £86,000 fine, believed to be the biggest penalty for the crime ever handed down in an English court.
He left two families fearing for their lives after he crashed his Mini into two cars.
The smash in Richmond, southwest London, left a nine-year-old boy crying out: ‘I’m dying Mummy, I’m dying.’
In a witness statement, the driver of one car said he and his wife ‘could have died as a result of McPartlin’s reckless driving’.
The star, who had been driving his mother, said he was ‘ashamed and mortified’ in a statement at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.
He stopped work commitments for a year to return to rehab for alcohol addiction.
He returned for Britain’s Got Talent this year after Holly Willoughby, 38, co-presented last year’s series of I’m A Celebrity in his absence, alongside Donnelly. Street-racing has become mainstream in recent years after the Fast and Furious film franchise.
But an illegal street-racing event in July left 18 people in hospital, with one man having to learn to walk again.
Rhys Hunt, 20, and Maya Atkins, 17, were bystanders in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, when two soupedup cars – a blue Nissan 350Z and a black Toyota GT86 – crashed into each other and hit a group of spectators.
Mr Hunt, from Hatfield, was left with several broken bones, spent 18 days in hospital and left in a wheelchair.
He told the BBC: ‘I think everyone who was involved in the crash feels lucky to be alive.’
One witness, Lo Mac, said: ‘About time these were banned. It’s just been pure luck that nothing like this has happened before. What happened to having insurance, first aiders and risk assessments?’
Street Car Showdown will be coproduced by Mitre Television and Studio Lambert. The BBC has been approached for comment.