‘Insane’ pills binge nearly killed me, reveals Ant
ANT MCPARTLIN, the award-winning television host, has disclosed he risked death after becoming addicted to prescription drugs and mixing them with alcohol.
The broadcaster, one half of “Ant and Dec”, entered rehab in June after struggling with a two-year addiction to strong painkillers following a knee operation. Having hidden pills in different places to avoid his addiction being discovered, he said he finally sought help after intervention from his wife Lisa and Declan Donnelly, his onscreen partner.
“I was at the point where anything – prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs – I would take,” he told The Sun on Sunday. “And take them with alcohol, which is ridiculous. The doctors told me, ‘You could have killed yourself ’.”
Earlier this year, the 41-year-old asked his wife to call an ambulance in the early hours of the morning after bingeing on tramadol, morphine and alcohol while recovering from a second knee operation in June.
At 5am, “screaming in pain”, he insisted she call an ambulance, confessing he was “in a bad way”.
He added: “I was insane. It sends you crazy. It was to the point of hearing things, seeing things in the garden and still the pain was getting worse. I was depressed through the whole thing because I was in pain and immobile.”
Following two months of rehab, the Britain’s Got Talent presenter is clean of all drugs other than paracetamol for the first time in three years, the newspaper said.
Mcpartlin had been prescribed painkillers following a knee injury in 2014 and an operation the following year. Determined to keep working, he pushed through to fulfill his television commitments.
The issue came to a head earlier this year during Britain’s Got Talent when Mcpartlin delayed a second knee operation to continue working on the ITV show in intense pain. Realising he was “just done”, he finally underwent corrective surgery following the show’s final, adding: “It was horrendous”.
After medicating with prescription drugs and sleeping pills, his earlymorning trip to hospital led his wife and Donnelly to convince him he needed professional help.
“Once I admitted I was in a bad way, they then helped get a team together because obviously I wasn’t in a fit state to do it myself,” Mcpartlin said. “We had an hour’s conversation then I packed my bag and I went.”
Mcpartlin also praised his wife, admitting she had been “put through hell” during his addiction. “She’s been very supportive,” he said. “As has Dec.”
After his announcement, Mcpartlin said he had received a handwritten note from Heads Together campaigner Prince Harry, sending best wishes, and congratulating him for speaking out.