Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Britain’s got tears
THIS is the moment Ant McPartlin let his bottled-up emotions spill over on camera after a magician’s heartbreaking story touched a nerve.
Ant was brought to tears on Britain’s Got Talent by performer Marc Spelmann, who said the “real magic” had been the birth of his daughter thanks to IVF.
Marc told how his wife Tessa had seven rounds of treatment to get pregnant – but was then diagnosed with breast cancer.
Ant, 42, was visibly upset, wiping his eyes. He told Marc:
“You got me in tears, man.”
The presenter has talked previously of how he and wife Lisa Armstrong had struggled for a baby.
He once revealed: “Lisa and I would love to have kids. We’re trying. It’s tougher than you think when you get older.”
The couple are now estranged after Ant’s battles with drink and prescription drugs.
Ant was back on screen as BGT returned with its audition rounds, in a show recorded in January. When those finish at the end of May, pal Declan Donnelly will present the week of live shows without him. The pair both pressed their golden buzzer to send Londoner Marc, 46, to the semi-finals.
The magician, who revealed wife Tessa is now cancer-free, performed a trick in which their two-year-old daughter Isabella predicted choices made by the judges.
Escapologist Matt Johnson, a gospel choir and a dance troupe set up by Diversity star Ashley Banjo also made it through.
Troubled Ant is due in court tomorrow to face drink-driving charges.