TV star Ant takes to road again after drink-drive ban is cut by five months
ANT McPartlin is back behind the wheel after his ban over a drink-drive crash was reduced.
The Britain’s Got Talent host, 43, was banned for 20 months and fined £86,000 last year after pleading guilty to driving while more than twice the legal limit.
But it was cut by five months after he completed a rehabilitation course and Ant was spotted in his Range Rover with girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett as they visited their new west London home.
A source close to Ant said: “It hasn’t diminished the impact of everything which has happened and remains fresh in his mind. It’s been a dreadful time and he has many regrets, but he’s very pleased to be getting back to normality too.
“The course is not something unique to him or his celeb status. Anyone could have done the same. It usually leads to a ban being reduced by a quarter.”
Ant was arrested in March last year after smashing his Mini into another vehicle in south-west London with his mother in the passenger seat.The presenter told police he was “ashamed and mortified”.Wimbledon magistrates court heard that he had been seeking help for “alcohol and emotional issues” having split from his partner of 11 years.
Sentencing him, District Judge Barbara Barnes told him his behaviour had left fans disappointed and stripped him of his former “exemplary” character.
His fine was the largest for drink-driving issued by the courts.
The presenter and his estranged wife Lisa Armstrong were granted a divorce in under 30 seconds in October last year.Ant returned to work in January for the auditions of Britain’s Got Talent alongside long-term pal and co-star Declan Donnelly.
He has also begun work on the latest I’m A Celebrity series after being replaced by HollyWilloughby last year.
Dec had said of Ant’s drinkdriving conviction: “How could he do that? I wanted to punch him and hug him at the same time – and I didn’t know which one I wanted to do first.”