Ant McPartlin has received praise from Clarion Donnelly for turning his life around after serving a 2018 drink driving conviction and moving forward.
Since leaving Byker Grove, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly quickly became the golden duo of television. But in 2018, their reign took a huge blow after Ant was arrested after being involved in a drink-driving crash in west London.
After spending time in rehab for an addiction to alcohol and painkillers, Ant, 50, was involved in the accident. However, almost eight years later, Declan still appears to have nothing but deep admiration for this best friend for turning his life around after the drink-fuelled collision that left a four-year-old passenger in one of the vehicles he hit with needing medical attention.
At the time, the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here host had been on his way back from walking his dogs in Richmond Park when he hit a BMW and another Mini Cooper. He was given an £86,000 fine, a 20-month driving ban which was reduced by five months and was also ordered to take a drink-driving referral course.
Declan told The Times: “What I most admire is that Ant took responsibility and real action in spite of the challenges he’s faced, especially over the past few years. He continued, “He worked so hard on himself to become a much better person than he was before.”
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Following the breakdown of his 11-year marriage to makeup artist Lisa Armstrong, the crash occurred. He addressed and stated his statement while standing outside Wimbledon Magistrates Court at the time.
He continued, “I just want to let you know how sorry I really feel about what happened.” I aspire to higher standards from myself. I let myself down, I let a lot of people down, and I’m so sorry for it. “I’m just thankful nobody was seriously hurt,” he continued, “I’d like to apologise to everyone involved in the crash.”
Ant took a step back from hosting his scheduled TV shows after pleading guilty and sent himself back to rehab once again. Former This Morning host Holly Willoughby replaced Ant to host I’m A Celebrity while Dec led two episodes of their quiz show, Saturday Night Takeaway.
Ant had taken a year off from his TV commitments and returned in 2019 to host Britain’s Got Talent. Two years later after putting his split with Lisa firmly behind him, he met and married his former personal assistant Anne-Marie. And 24-months later the couple welcomed their first child together.
Declan admits to considering going solo professionally while working on himself during his second stint in rehab. He claimed that Ant’s behavior was “indefensible.”
How did he manage that, he asked The Guardian? I wanted to punch him and give him a hug at the same time, but I was unsure of the first action. Ant then admitted in a candid manner that “it didn’t kick in until I was gone and rested.” I was having trouble falling asleep. The guilt and shame were repulsive. Drinking while driving is an inadmissible offense, regardless of the state I’m in.
On the back of their advertisement for their new podcast Hanging Out With Ant and Dec, Ant and Dec were recently ordered to apologize in full. The pair’s feet are the only thing initially visible in the advertisement. Then, Dec is reportedly addressing Ant, “Did you agree to this?”
Ant responded, “No, I assumed this to be your idea. Dec said, “This is not what we meant by hanging out,” before the pair are then seen hanging by the shoulders to a clothesline.
But their promotional video did not go down well at all among fans. And even X Factor star Katie Waissel waded in on the argument as she described their advert as “sickening and deeply disappointing.” Taking to X, she fumed: “This opening visual of feet suspended above the ground is not a harmless ‘play on words’, it immediately reads as someone hanging, and the suicide imagery is impossible to ignore.”
There is a clear duty to act responsibly with a platform as large as yours, she continued. This harm can be avoided for the long run. When so many families have been ruined by suicide and self-harm, it’s startling, insensitive, and reckless to promote as ” entertainment “.
Soon after, the duo apologized and said that the offensive language and imagery had been removed in a statement.
Source: Mirror
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