Ant McPartlin ‘found stuff out he hadn’t addressed for years’ after being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The 49-year-old TV presenter is best known for working alongside Declan Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec.
The pair first came to prominence in the 90s while starring in the children’s drama series Byker Grove, going on to present shows like SMTV Live, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and Britain’s Got Talent together.
However, in 2018 Ant came under the spotlight when causing a shocking car crash which saw him handed a 20-month driving ban along with an £86,000 fine after he drove while more than twice the legal limit.
Appearing outside court soon after, Ant said he was ‘truly sorry for what happened’.
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‘Higher standards are expected of me, I expect them of myself. I let myself down, I let a lot of people down, and for that I’m truly sorry,’ he told media.
‘I would like to apologise to everyone involved in the crash and I’m just thankful nobody was seriously hurt.’
The incident was also labelled ‘indefensible’ by Dec, now 49, said they had considered ending their professional partnership.
A year later, Ant spoke about his ADHD diagnosis, which was discovered soon after the crash.
‘I’ve got ADHD. I don’t mind talking about that. I never knew that until afterwards. I was so thoroughly examined and diagnosed, I found stuff out about me I hadn’t addressed for years,’ he told The Sun.
Ant said his diagnosis immediately ‘made sense’ due to the fact the condition could be linked to problems with alcohol.
‘There are a lot of links to alcohol-dependency, which I studied a lot when I was away,’ he explained.
Although he said there were lots of characteristics of AHD that had ‘held me in good stead’ for working in live TV, in his personal life if left him ‘all over the place’.
‘I need to be cared for and looked after. I need to be aware of things more and I am now,’ he said.
He went on to say: ‘In our day-to-day lives we’re not very introspective – especially not British northern blokes.’
Ant the said his ‘heart went out’ to others struggling with similar circumstances, adding: ‘If they can get anything from what I went through then it’s, “It’s OK to not be OK”.’
In 2017 Ant first checked into rehab after revealing he had struggled with substance abuse, alcohol misuse and prescription drug addiction for over two years prior.
Following the drink driving accident, he again sought help for alcohol dependency.
He said in an interview at the time: ‘The crash was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me — but it made me stop and re-evaluate everything. I was like, “You know what, I’m not all right”.’
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In 2018 he took a break from his TV presenting duties before returning to help host BGT in January the following year.
Two years later he married Anne-Marie Corbett, with the couple welcoming son Wilder in May this year.
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1.
This article was first published on January 20, 2019.
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