Our Ant will bounce back Family rally round troubled Takeaway star
ANT McPartlin‘s family spoke last night for the first time about his drink-drive charge and said: “He will bounce back from this.” I’ve seen a few posts on social media that aren’t that nice. It’s just hard to say.”
Caroline’s comments come days after it emerged the presenter had checked back into rehab having pulled out of all TV commitments i ncluding l ast night’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
Ant was arrested last Sunday after a three- car crash in Richmond, West London.
He wil l a ppear at Wimbledon magistrates’ court on April 4 charged with drink-driving.
In the meantime, co-host Dec Donnelly, 42, has announced he will be presenting the final two episodes of Takeaway including a second show from Universal Studios in Orlando. Ant, worth £60million, first went into rehab last la year after becoming c hooked on painkillers. p
He told how he became addicted to t Tramadol after botched b knee surge gery two years ago left him in agony. l He also admitted drinking he heavily and battling depression and anxiety.
When he checked into rehab he said he had let “a lot of people down and for that I am truly sorry”.
He added: “I want to thank my wife, family mily and friends for helping me through this really difficult time. ime.
“I’ve spoken oken out because I think it’s s important that people ask k for help if they’re going through ough a rough time and get t t he proper treatment nt to help their recovery.” ”
ITV stood ood by him last summer and nd said he could have “all the time in the world” to recover.
He was s back on screen by y the autumn for r I’m a Celebrity...Get ..Get Me Out of f Here. eH
He said: “I sat on it... no, I slipped down some stairs and now I think it might be broken…”
At the NTA Awards he also slashed open his finger on one of his trophies.
In an interview about that injury, he said he had also previously cut his ankles when dropping an NTA gong at home that left him with a gash so severe he had to go to A&E to have stitches. Other sources say Ant failed to deal with his demons during his rehab stint last year in Los Angeles. He flew to California to meet counsellors and work through his drug and drink addictions and emotional worries in the weeks before the start of I’m A Celebrity. However friends say the presenter used the time away from the UK to forget about his woes rather than deal with them head on.