Declan Donnelly’s mum Anne reveals heartache at Ant McPartlin’s addiction battle and says she was ‘upset he was in so much pain’
DECLAN Donnelly's mum Anne has revealed her heartache over Ant McPartlin's depression and the addiction to prescription drugs which nearly killed him.
Anne, who says the Britain's Got Talent co-host is "like a son" to her, revealed: "When I found out about what he had been going through I was quite upset that he had been in that much pain."
This weekend, The Sun on Sunday exclusively reported the Geordie's harrowing two-year ordeal which saw him endure hallucinations and psychosis as well as a fight to save his marriage.
But Anne admitted she first learned about Ant's battle after reading about it in the newspapers.
She said: "We didn't know how he was doing until we read about it."
"He has done so well, and we are all so proud of him.
"We are all so happy with the news.
"I'm really proud of Ant."
Anne's show of support for the TV favourite, who she has known since his Byker Grove days with Dec, came shortly after Ant praised the "brilliant" NHS doctor who saved his life in an emotive exclusive chat with The Sun.
The desperate TV host went to Professor David Deehan in his home city earlier this year after a private knee operation left him in agony.
He had also become hooked on the powerful painkiller tramadol in a bid to ease his condition.
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But Professor Deehan – a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and an expert in knee surgery at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital — helped kickstart his recovery.
Yesterday we reported how Ant took to Twitter for the first time since the dramatic details of experiences were made public by The Sun.
He admitted he was "overwhelmed" after being flooded with supportive messages following his ordeal, which saw him admitted to rehab in June.
The brave Britain's Got Talent host then took to the account he shares with best pal and co-presenter Declan Donnelly to write: "Have to say I'm overwhelmed by everyone's love, support and well wishes today.
"Thank you one and all.
"I'm sending all my love back. A xxx"
His return to the social media site sparked a similar show of affection from his followers.
One gushed: "I've never been so happy to see a tweet in all my life! Love you so so much," as another one added: "Well done Ant! Good luck with the rest of your recovery, we're all behind you!"
One candidly posted: "You are so loved & people thought you were so brave to admit you needed help, which was the opposite of what you thought."
Meanwhile an Ant super-fan put: "You have set an example to all who are in the position you have been in. We are so impressed with your courage. Xx"
On Monday, we reported how Ant's pal and BGT agent Jonathan Shalit had confessed he was "in awe" of the presenter's professionalism.
Speaking to today's Good Morning Britain about his pride for his client's conduct and said: "During Britain's Got Talent this year, I was in and out of his dressing room.
"He was suffering, he was clearly in pain and his knee was in a leg brace, and yet he got on with it.
"I had no idea about what was to come into the public domain when it finished.
"I'm in awe of him because he gave no clue to anybody.
"He was hugely professional, let nobody down, and worked very hard."
Meanwhile at the weekend, in an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, the terrified 41-year-old I’m A Celebrity presenter told how he was rushed to hospital at 5am after an “insane” pills binge.
The star revealed in shocking and dramatic detail how he hid a crippling drug addiction and battle with depression from viewers and even his loved ones.
In a world exclusive interview, emotional Ant tells The Sun on Sunday: “I was at the point where anything — prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs — I would take.
"And take them with alcohol, which is ridiculous. The doctors told me, ‘You could have killed yourself’. ”
Ant, 41, knew the game was up as he pleaded with his wife Lisa to get him to hospital after bingeing on tramadol, morphine and alcohol while recovering from a second knee operation in June.
He recalls: “It was five in the morning and I was screaming in pain so I rang Lisa.
“She was upstairs because I was living in the living room because I couldn’t get around.
“I said, ‘You’re going to have to call me an ambulance. I’m in a bad way’.
“I was insane. It sends you crazy. It was to the point of hearing things, seeing things in the garden and still the pain was getting worse.
“The ambulance came and took me to Chelsea and Westminster.
“I was depressed through the whole thing because I was in pain and immobile.”
In a separate exclusive with The Sun, he admitted he put wife Lisa through hell.
He also lifted the lid on his "sweating, scratching and sleepless nights."
Geordie Ant is speaking out about his drugs ordeal and bravely admits he is a prescription drug addict following two months of intense rehab.
We met at a secret location in London on Friday as he finished his treatment.
The Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and I’m A Celebrity presenter is clean of all drugs other than paracetamol for the first time in three years — and looking healthy after losing a stone.
Squeaky-clean Ant’s descent into dangerous prescription drugs came after he damaged his knee in 2014, then had a botched operation on it the following year.
The star recalls: “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.
“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.”
The highly potent pain relief medication can cause slurred speech, drowsiness, headaches and impaired co-ordination. It is also very addictive.
Ant says: “I didn’t think it was a problem then, but you just keep taking them.
“They’re very hard to come off. I was taking them more regularly, more regularly.”
Asked if his doctor warned him of the risks, Ant admits: “Yeah. And the warnings are on the packet. I didn’t take them as seriously as I should have.
“And I drank with them, which was stupid and very reckless.
“I didn’t think how dangerous they are.
“You just think you know best — I’m in more pain, I’ll just whack another one down. That’s the danger — self-medicating.”
Within weeks, Ant — who is worth £60million — was doing just that.
With money as no object, he began to visit a number of independent private doctors to get more tramadol prescribed.
He explained: “They’re very easy to get a hold of.
“That’s the problem with someone who gets addicted, you’ll go to various people.
“You can’t blame anyone because you were asking for them.
“You end up abusing that by going to different people. I went to three private doctors. That’s how you can get more. I’ve got the means to speak to people.
"And there were medical teams at shows who would give me them too. I would take as much as I could to just get through stuff.”
Within weeks, Ant was a full-blown tramadol addict, drinking and taking other drugs to get through various downs that come with such a powerful medication.
He says of his problem: “From the old lady who lies about her Valium supply to someone like me who was necking tramadol to the point of psychosis, in the end it’s the same thing. It’s addiction.”
Ant’s addiction got progressively worse throughout last year and hit a peak earlier this year when he began using dangerous cocktails of drugs to get him through his gruelling work commitments.
He says: “The pain I was in was just ridiculous.
“There was a point on Saturday Night Takeaway last year when we performed with Take That.
“I knew there was a dance routine involved. I took a load of stuff that day just to get through the day.
“And I couldn’t feel anything on the night. But that did a lot of damage.”
The next week Ant flew to Florida for Takeaway’s series finale where he was prescribed more drugs by US medics.
He recalls: “I was in a hell of a lot of pain. We had to call the doctor up and get an injection to just get through the show.
“I was also prescribed more painkillers over there — I can’t remember the name of them but they were a lot stronger.
“I brought them home with us and was taking them as well.”
Ant was desperately requiring surgery on his knee to try to relieve the pain, but delayed the operation for work.
He says: “It got so bad and the doctors were telling me I’ve got to go in for surgery. But I had the live shows of Britain’s Got Talent to do so I was putting it off. Hands up.
"What I should have done is stopped, dealt with it and maybe missed BGT. But I didn’t. I put up with it.”
The BGT live shows were hellish for Ant as he battled through two live shows in intense pain while continuing to pop pills.
He flew up to Newcastle immediately after the talent show’s final for the “big op”.
NHS surgeons had to put him through a necessarily awful procedure to try to save his knee.
He says: “By the time I’d got to hospital in June this year, I was just done, man. It was horrendous. It’s a very painful operation.
"They physically break your bone. They’ve broken the tibia and they’ve moved it across to realign my leg to stop the pressure.”
After flying home to London to recuperate, things turned from bad to worse.
He says: “I was housebound on crutches. I was prescribed tramadol again for the pain.
“It was getting out of control then. I was taking them whenever willy-nilly. I ran out of my supply very quickly.
“I was on oral morphine as well. But I finished that off quite quickly. There’s a theme here. It heightens everything. I’d get phantom pains where it felt like someone had put an iron on my leg.”
To cope with the highs and lows of all the prescription drugs, Ant started drinking heavily.
He was also given sleeping pills to help him at nights.
He says: “I was drinking far too much — beer, spirits, wine, anything, really.
"I took sleeping pills too — I was prescribed temazepam and diazepam. They’re really strong and addictive.
“That would knock you out. But with painkillers it’s a very deadly mix.”
It was at the early hours visit to the hospital that Ant finally accepted he was in a life-and-death situation.
He says: “I met with a great team who were like, ‘Listen, you’re on too much stuff.’
But he adds: “I’ve got to take the blame. If I’d wanted it, I would have got it and I did.”
HE WILL WIN LONE FIGHT
ANT is bright-eyed, trim and sporting a youthful new hairstyle when we meet.
He looks far more vibrant than when I saw him backstage earlier this year — when he was in the midst of his near-deadly addiction.
I’ve interviewed Ant countless times but never without Dec, who was always there to perk him up and get him through any difficult questions.
Ant admits: “It’s weird doing an interview on my own. I think it’s the first time I ever have. When I’m prattling on a bit, Dec usually jumps in.”
But Ant has something important to say. There’s not a moment where he backs away from the, at times, uncomfortable truth about the last three years.
Discussing what has gone on is a crucial part of staying clean.
Ant’s recovery will be difficult given the huge pain and immobility from his knee injury.
But I have no doubt he will succeed.
- By Dan Wootton
Following the dash to hospital, Ant agreed to go into rehab.
It followed a a make-or-break intervention by his concerned wife Lisa and telly partner Declan Donnelly, 41.
The cheeky TV star who is famous for his happy-go-lucky persona had kept details of his drug and depression battle completely secret from the two people closest to him.
Ant admits: “It was the very end until I told anyone.”
For the last three years Ant had been going to extreme lengths to keep his issues covered up.
He explains: “It wasn’t until I came back home to London that I admitted I was in a bad way.
“I hid it from everyone because I was embarrassed about it. I would lie.
“I would hide pills in different places so it would look like you only had a small supply when you in fact had a much bigger supply.”
After leaving hospital, Dec came around to Ant’s house where he had a conversation with Lisa.
Ant recalls: “Coming out of Chelsea and Westminster, that was when we sat down and it was decided I needed to go into rehab.
“Dec came around and he kind of knew it was at the point where I needed help.
“Once I admitted I was in a bad way, they then helped get a team together because obviously I wasn’t in a fit state to do it myself.
“We had an hour’s conversation then I packed my bag and I went.
“I’m lucky because I have the means to do that. But there are a lot of people who don’t. So I’m very grateful.”
HOW TO GET VITAL HELP
THE Sun on Sunday is making a donation to a drugs charity of Ant’s choice at his request.
The charity has two treatment centres, Clouds House in Wiltshire and Hope House, a specialist treatment centre for women, in London.
It also runs community-based services in Liverpool and Essex.
You can contact Action on Addiction via their website, .
Another option is the drug education service FRANK, which is particularly aimed at young people. You can call on 0300 123 6600. The website is .
Meanwhile, Adfam offers support for families of drug and alcohol users. Visit their website or call 020 3817 9410.
Asked if at this stage he was committed to going into rehab and knew it had to happen, he replies “Yup.”
Then, asked if he fought it, Ant answers: “Nah. As soon as I asked for help, I was admitting I was done with it all.
“Lisa and Dec gave me a bit of a send-off from mine. And they’ve been brilliant throughout.’"
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