Ant McPartlin (Credit: Flynet Pictures)
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Ant McPartlin pleads guilty to drink-driving

He was charged with drink-driving following an alleged car collision in March

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Ant McPartlin has pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

The Saturday Night Takeaway star, 42, appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in March.

The court was told Ant had been twice the legal limit when he was arrested. He had 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35mcg per 100 ml.

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Ant McPartlin pictured at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday (Credit: Jules / Flynet – SplashNews)

Ant stepped out of a black Mercedes people carrier to face the media scrum as he walked up the steps at the main entrance to the court building in south-west London, which was guarded by seven police officers.

Wearing a black, three-piece suit, white shirt and black tie, Ant stood in the glass dock in court.

He spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, address and nationality before pleading guilty to a single charge of drink-driving.

The charge states he had 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

Anthony McPartlin arrives at court (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Ant had been scheduled to appear in court on April 4, but the hearing was adjourned until today.

He was arrested at around 4pm on March 18 after a failing a roadside breathalyser test following a collision between the Mini he was driving and two other cars.

Ant was greeted by photographers and reporters outside the court (Credit: (Credit: Jules / Flynet – SplashNews)

After Ant was charged with drink-driving, ITV announced that his co-presenter Dec Donnelly would go on to present the end of the current series of Saturday Night Takeaway on his own.

Dec fronted the final two episodes solo, including the finale which was filmed at Universal Orlando Resort.

Ant has stepped down from current TV work as he returns to treatment.

Ant has stepped down from current TV work as he returns to treatment (Credit: Wenn)

His publicist said last month: “Ant has decided to go back into treatment and step down from his current TV commitments. He has spoken with Dec and ITV and asked for time off for the foreseeable future.”

It has been confirmed that Dec, 42, will present the upcoming Britain’s Got Talent live shows by himself, while Ant steps away from the TV spotlight.

In a statement, ITV said: “Dec will be hosting the live shows which, for the first time ever, are coming from the Hammersmith Apollo while Ant steps down from his TV commitments for now.”

FLYNET - Britain's Got Talent Judges Pose On The Red Carpet At The Lowry Theater In Manchester
Ant, pictured with Dec and the BGT judges in January, will feature in the pre-recorded auditions episodes of the show (Credit: Aaron Parfitt / Flynet – SplashNews)

Ant will appear in the pre-recorded auditions episodes of BGT, which began on Saturday night on ITV.

The new series launched with 8.3 million viewers – down on last year.

ITV said the show, in which the judges and presenters were wowed by a magician, was the most-watched programme of the night.

Dec recently hosted Saturday Night Takeaway’s last two episodes of the series solo, including the finale live from Florida (Credit: ITV)

But it is a drop from the 2017 opener, which was watched by 8.7 million, with a 42% audience share.

Saturday night’s show, featuring Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden returning as judges, had a 41% share and an audience peak of 9.6 million viewers.

ITV said Saturday’s Britain’s Got Talent instalment was the most-watched entertainment show of the year so far and that it was the most popular programme on any channel so far this year for 16 to 34-year-olds.

Last year’s series culminated with pianist Tokio Myers being crowned the champion.

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