Inside Ant McPartlin's journey to recovery: from rehab to reunion with Dec

Ant and Dec are widely regarded as the UK's best presenting duo. The longtime friends have been regular faces on our screens for decades, having started their careers together on Byker Grove back in 1989 before going on to front some of Britain's most-loved shows, such as Britain's Got Talent, Saturday Night Takeaway, and of course, I'm A Celeb, which returns with its 24th series on Sunday.

But back in 2018, their career as a double act was put in jeopardy after Ant's drink-driving conviction and his retreat from the spotlight. While the pair were reunited on our screens the following year and have been going strong ever since, Ant hasn't shied away from speaking about his health struggles. Read about his journey to recovery, including his rehab stints and his TV comeback.

The beginning of Ant's addiction to prescription drugs

Ant, 48, began taking prescription drugs in 2014 after a knee injury and a botched operation the following year.

Speaking to The Sun in 2017, Ant recalled: "Initially I was prescribed co-codamol, codeine, the normal stuff you would get, and then a lot of opium-based stuff. As a general rule, anything that is opium-based can be addictive."

He continued: "I would go for it first because it would make the pain disappear and kind of numb it. But then we found my pain had been caused by a hole in my knee bone. It was shot. I was moved on to tramadol, which is where the real problems started."

Ant's first rehab stint

In 2017, Ant admitted his addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs and sought treatment in rehab.

He left the facility later that year and was clean of all drugs other than paracetamol for the first time in three years. "I was at the point where anything – prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs – I would take," he told The Sun after checking out of rehab. "And take them with alcohol, which is ridiculous. The doctors told me, 'You could have killed yourself'."

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Ant's accident and break from TV

The following year, in March 2018, Ant was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after a collision involving three vehicles in south-west London. The TV presenter collided with two cars, which resulted in a number of people being treated for minor injuries at the scene. The following month, Ant was fined £86,000 and disqualified from driving for 20 months after pleading guilty.

A day after the car crash, the TV star announced he was withdrawing from his work commitments and checked into rehab. "My recovery is going very well and, for that to continue, having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off," he said in a statement at the time.

Sharing his reaction to the crash in a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Dec said: "It felt like a nightmare, that there'd been a mistake. 'Of course he didn't do that.'"

After Ant admitted to the crash, he and Dec had a "heart-to-heart". "I said, 'Look, forget everything – TV, the partnership – you've just got to go and get well,'" Dec recalled, adding: "I think I said I'd give everything up if he could just be happy again."

While the 2019 series of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway was cancelled, former This Morning star and close friend, Holly Willoughby, stepped in to co-host I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! with Dec.

At the time, Holly said she had "big shoes, not to fill, but just to keep warm for a little bit," and sent her "best wishes and support" for Ant's continued recovery.

Ant's comeback and reunion with Dec

Ant made his TV comeback in January 2019, when he reunited with Dec to host Britain's Got Talent.

Appearing on stage at the London Palladium for the first day of auditions, Ant told the audience: "Hello everyone. Oh God, I'm really, really emotional now. I've missed you all."

Turning to Dec, he continued: "As for you, I've missed you. Thank you very much, what a warm welcome. What a great show to come back to, I'm thrilled, I'm over the moon. Shall we move on before I cry?"

The pair went on to win Best Presenters for the 18th time in a row at the National Television Awards, which Ant described as a "genuine shock".

Reflecting on the win in his interview with The Guardian: "It's a testament to us having been around so long and people having grown up with us that they've allowed us – well, allowed me – to come back.

"And they've allowed me time to sort myself out, because I don't think they would have been as forgiving to a lot of other people," added the presenter.

Since then, the pair's on-screen partnership has gone from strength to strength and earlier this year, they bagged their 23rd gong at the NTAs.

Away from the cameras, Ant found love with his former personal assistant Anne-Marie Corbett, whom he wed in 2021. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Wilder, in May this year.