Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel a bit sorry for Dec

142 replies

Bobbiepin · 19/03/2018 21:50

I've not read a huge amount about the Ant Mcpartlin situation but it's clear things are going down the pooper pretty quick.

With all of this going on, does anyone else feel a bit sorry for Dec? His mate has royally fucked up and therefore he probably will find it difficult to find work. They've been a double act since the 80s so is anyone likely to hire Dec on his own?

It's like the Lost Prophets after it was found out that Watkins was a paedophile. I'm sure Dec's hardly strapped for cash but still.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bobbiepin · 19/03/2018 22:10

@silverysurfer not a fan then? Grin

I guess early retirement isnt such a hardship, although I don't think I would like it. Saying that, ask me again when I'm 45!

OP posts:
ButchyRestingFace · 19/03/2018 22:12

I thought more about the years of work into a career in a difficult industry that's gone to pot through no fault of his own

Surely that’s an occupational hazard when you’re one half of a double act? Confused

He knows the score. And is apparently £60m richer for it. I struggle to summon up much sympathy. He won’t starve.

PutUpWithRain · 19/03/2018 22:12

(and if I could edit posts on here, I'd add 'imagine how awful it is to see your best friend get to such a low point, and wonder if you could have helped more or prevented this - no one could, realistically. Not only that, but so publicly too. I do genuinely feel sorry for Dec in this).

logicalmum · 19/03/2018 22:13

Being back Cat Deeley.
Please, nooo.

Timefortea99 · 19/03/2018 22:15

I am not a great fan of theirs but I do feel sorry for both of them. Dec because his career is probably going to go down the toilet through no fault of his, and Ant for getting in this state in the first place, just the mess of it. They were in the upper echelons of tv entertainers but I can’t see them coming back from this. It is not the money, but they are performers (whether you like them or not, that is what they have done as a duo for a long time) and then it goes. Like Barrymore. I abhor drink drivers so my sympathy for Ant is tempered by that abhorrence. And then there is the friendship angle.

Sparklingbrook · 19/03/2018 22:15

The child gets younger and younger. A toddler now?

Original poster
Bobbiepin · 19/03/2018 22:17

I loved Cat Deeley as a kid. I met her once and she was lovely.

@putupwithrain I agree, must be tough to see someone you care about going through that. Still, no excuse for drunk driving.

OP posts:
Slartybartfast · 19/03/2018 22:18

that was my first thought, that is his career down the pan as well.

Original poster
Bobbiepin · 19/03/2018 22:18

@timefortea I have no sympathy for Ant. Addiction is a terrible thing but it's a choice to get behind the wheel of a car.

@sparklingbrook I heard it was a 3 year old girl. Am I mistaken?

OP posts:
Thundercracker · 19/03/2018 22:20

Absolutely not, save on a human level that he is worried about his best friend (if that is true. They may still be, but as said above, they are so tied together professionally, they need that narrative. Addiction places strains on every relationship though.)

ITV have to fill two more shows. If he wants it, he can audition for his solo career on Saturday prime time, with the goodwill of the audience behind him and no feeling that he's being disloyal to his partner. He has the best chance he has ever needed to be more than one half of a double act, without burning any bridges.

Slartybartfast · 19/03/2018 22:20

but tbh Ant will be back.
he is in rehab, like he was last summer

Sparklingbrook · 19/03/2018 22:21

I don't class a 3 year old as a toddler. I think the latest reports say a 4 year old. That's newspapers for you.

LARLARLAND · 19/03/2018 22:21

He'll take time to recover then come back. This will be a blip.

FlyingMonkeys · 19/03/2018 22:21

Actions and consequences... I'm surprised he was driving though if his mum was in the car. Possibly didn't think he was over the limit. I'd seen they are insured against each other too.

logicalmum · 19/03/2018 22:22

He might have to retire form the entertainment industry but he doesn't have to retire from work. With his money he could buy a business that he'd enjoy running. The worlds his oyster. All that money gives him the freedom to do what he wants. There's got to be more fulfilling things he could do with his life.

Original poster
Bobbiepin · 19/03/2018 22:24

Maybe it's just in my mind but hurting a child takes it a step too far for him to come back. I would struggle to watch him again. (Child/toddler/semantics)

OP posts:
FlyingMonkeys · 19/03/2018 22:24

I reckon Dec's known the writing is on the wall for a long time though. I'd better he's planned accordingly for when the money spinner comes to an end.

NoSquirrels · 19/03/2018 22:24

I think you all vastly underestimate how tolerant the general public will be of the “rehab-I’m full of remorse-I’m back bravely on TV” PR narrative that will unfold.

Drink driving is undeniably bloody awful. He was hugely irresponsible. But ultimately he didn’t kill anyone, the 3 year old was in hospital as a precaution. And he’s checked into rehab pretty much straight away.

I feel sorry for them both but I think they’ll be back on TV together sooner than you’d imagine.

FlashTheSloth · 19/03/2018 22:27

I doubt very much this spells the end of their careers. FGS the man was over the limit and everyone has him tried and retired, and his partner, already! He was only arrested yesterday.

Plenty of celebs act like total knobs and do twattish things and it doesn't spell the end of their careers.

SpringNowPlease2018 · 19/03/2018 22:27

I thought the child was fine? I hope so.

I don't feel sorry for a drink driver. Are those two really friends? I don't know much about them. If they are mates and he has to deal with that worry, sure, I feel bad for him, but professionally he's not short of cash and could start any number of things.

Tringley · 19/03/2018 22:27

Isn't the child 3, that's still considered a toddler.

BTatemyhamster · 19/03/2018 22:31

I bet Dec's pretty pissed off. Ant has strangled their golden goose. They're a double act built on cheeky-boy-next-door charm. Drink driving doesn't really chime with that.

He won't be broke but he'll struggle to go solo and someone else's actions ending your winning streak must be pretty galling.

Mymycherrypie · 19/03/2018 22:32

I think if you watch him at the TV awards in January you can see that he isn’t quite sober. Dec will have known that. I am surprised Ants mum was in the car, had my son been drunk at the wheel I’d have taken his keys away and given him a hard telling off. Then phoned his sponsor from the first round of AA.

madeyemoodysmum · 19/03/2018 22:33

I heard the girl was six on the BBC

Sparklingbrook · 19/03/2018 22:34

My two started pre school at 2.9 and they certainly weren't toddlers at that age.It's a bit by the way I guess but I would call a 3 year old either 'a three year old' or a 'preschooler'. But it makes for a better headline to say a toddler possibly?

Bit OT anyway on a thread discussing sympathy for Dec. There's two other threads where the nitty gritty details of the driving offence are being discussed.

Swipe left for the next trending thread