Ant McPartlin reveals rift with Dec Donnelly over drink-driving incident

'He was angry, of course he was angry'

Jack Shepherd
Monday 21 January 2019 09:21 GMT
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Ant McPartlin charged with drink-driving

Ant McPartlin has confessed the drink drive crash that forced him to enter rehab initially caused "tensions" between himself and presenting partner Dec Donnelly.

The 43-year-old told The Sun about their first conversation after the incident: "He's angry, of course he's angry.

"But it's justified and I understood it. Underneath all of that is love and still is love and that's what we talked about more than anything."

Donnelly, who McPartlin has assured is still his best friend, went on to present Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here without him.

McPartlin was fined a record £86,000 and banned from driving for 20 months after he crashed his car in March last year while more than twice the alcohol limit.

He said: "I said to Dec, 'I just need to take time out and re-evaluate and get better and deal with things going on in my life. It will take as long as it takes'.

"I'm very lucky that I've got an understanding business partner and best friend who said, 'Absolutely, your head is more important than anything'. I had to lock myself away."

returned to work with Donnelly on Britain's Got Talent on Friday, when he told the audience: "I'm really, really emotional now. I've missed you all."

The presenter also revealed he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

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“I’ve got ADHD. I don’t mind talking about that,” he said: “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."

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