Britain’s Got Talent star Ant goes into drug rehab
Popular presenter faces months in clinic after admitting problems with drink, substance abuse and prescription drugs
BRITAIN’S Got Talent host Anthony ‘Ant’ McPartlin has checked into rehab as he struggles to overcome problems with alcohol, prescription painkillers and substance abuse, it was reported last night.
The 41-year-old made the shocking revelation in an interview in which he said he is expected to spend two months in a clinic.
He has been battling his condition for two years after an operation on his knee went wrong, leaving him in constant pain.
Ant told The Sun on Sunday: ‘The first step is to admit to yourself you need help.’
He added: ‘I feel like I have let a lot of people down and for that I am truly sorry.’
Following the operation he began taking the opioid painkiller Tramadol and became addicted.
It was said people close to him had become concerned that Ant was combining the drug with alcohol, worsening the effects.
A friend said: ‘He began abusing substances when he was drunk.’
The TV star was also said to have been suffering from depression and to have used alcohol and drugs as an escape.
Adding to Ant’s mental strain were the problems in his marriage to wife Lisa, 40, it was claimed. The couple have been together for 23 years and married in 2006 but have not started a family.
They are said to remain close but the lack of children is said to have been a source of ‘tension’ between the pair.
The revelations are a far cry from the cheery personality he is known for alongside his friend Declan ‘Dec’ Donnelly as presenters of BGT and I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
According to The Sun on Sunday, gruelling scheduling commitments in filming had also placed a strain on the star.
Ant said: ‘I’ve spoken out because I think it’s important that people ask for help if they’re going through a rough time and get the proper treatment to help their recovery.’
Ant and Dec are close friends and regular visitors to pubs near their multi-million-pound homes in Chiswick, West London. For a long time Ant managed to hide his problems from those around him, but there had been concern among people who worked with him on the recent finals of BGT about his condition. It was Dec, 41, who urged his friend to get help.
Ant came to stardom on the children’s TV show Byker Grove playing the role of PJ opposite Dec, where the pair become best friends on and off set.
They were catapulted into the charts and scored a series of hit songs as PJ & Duncan AKA and the pair have hosted a series of programmes including Pop Idol and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Ant, who has amassed a £60million fortune, signed a twoand-a-half-year contract with ITV in 2007, worth around £30million, with co-host Dec, launching them into the premier league of British television earners.
Ant underwent further knee surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London last Tuesday and is expected to be in a wheelchair for weeks.
Doctors had feared his knee could collapse, leaving him crippled.
It is not known where he is undergoing his rehabilitation.
‘I let people down and for that I am truly sorry’