MEGASTAR ANT’S DAD WORKS AS GAS MAN
He’s paid just £15 an hour
ANT McPartlin’s estranged dad who walked out when he was 10 is now a gas fitter earning £15 an hour.
Heating engineer Ray, 63, lives in a two-bed house on a Newcastle estate far removed from his son’s glitzy celebrity life.
The Geordie dad tried to engineer a reunion with his son in 2006, shortly before he married Lisa Armstrong.
But Ant, 42, was “not interested”.
The pair have not spoken in years and his father finds their rift “painful”.
A source said: “Ray is very proud of his son and everything he has gone on to achieve.
“But their relationship has been strained for a long time.
“Ray and Ant haven’t spoken properly in years. I don’t think Ant has ever forgiven his dad for leaving him all those years ago and they are not close. Ray did try to reach out to Ant before his wedding, but I don’t think Ant was interested in repairing the relationship with him. Too much has gone on.”
The remarried dad abandoned the Saturday Night Takeaway host and his two sisters Emma and Sarha when they were children.
He “works hard, but he doesn’t earn very much money”, the source said. A neighbour revealed: “Ray is a quiet man and never talks about his famous son.
“Ant never visits him here although he has been up to the neighbourhood in the past to visit a cousin.
“Everyone round here knows he’s Ant’s dad and I bet he watches his son on the telly. We all do. He’s great entertainment and we love him.” Meanwhile, telly king Ant has pocketed a £60million fortune, earned from years of working on prime time shows.
The I’m A Celeb host has remained very close to his mum Christine Woodhall.
She was in the car with her troubled son when he was involved in a three-car pile up in west London on March 18.
He failed a roadside breathalyser test and was later charged with drink driving.
Shaken Ant was seen shouting at Christine immediately after the crash, witnesses said.
The mum is expected to be at his hearing at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court next Wednesday. Ant’s soon-to-be former wife Lisa put a brave face on her own eightyear baby hell on Twitter. She “liked” the announcement that his TV partner Declan Donnelly and wife Ali Astall are to become parents.