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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
supersop60 · 20/03/2018 09:25

fluff - when are they ever nasty?

ShortandAnnoying · 20/03/2018 09:25

I know he's best known as half of Ant and Dec but I don't see why he can't do some work on his own. Fans of the double act will give him a chance and if he does some good solo stuff he can carry on from there.

TattyCat · 20/03/2018 09:30

I do wonder why his mother has moved in with him. He's 42! If it's to 'look after him' then she hasn't done a very good job...

Moominfan · 20/03/2018 09:35

I feel for ant. He's hardly angelic but his downward spiral is being recorded for everyone to see

EggysMom · 20/03/2018 09:35

I feel a little sorry for Dec, I'd imagine he thought he had a few more years as a double act before breaking out as individuals. But he's got more than enough money to take a few years break "to be with the family", and then he can slowly come back as a solo host / presenter. For a while I never thought I'd see Philip Schofield without Gordon the Gopher, but look at him now!

logicalmum · 20/03/2018 09:35

Possibly could be the end of Scarlet Moffats career too. I can't imagine anyone else seeing much potential as a presenter in her as strangely enough Ant seemed to.

MorningsEleven · 20/03/2018 09:43

Possibly could be the end of Scarlet Moffats career too

Every cloud...

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 20/03/2018 09:47

I never understood their enduring popularity but I do feel sorry for Dec.

LucilleBluth · 20/03/2018 09:52

Could all this lack of sympathy I'm seeing in MN relate to the fact that they are.....god forbid.....working class. Yesterday someone called them their audience 'underclass'...lots of people are calling them talentless. Have they risen above their station perhaps.

I feel desperately sorry for Ant but I also condemn him for drink driving....I am capable of feeling these two things at once. It is beyond sad to see his public downfall.
He looks like a shell of his former self and I hope he gets the help he needs. If we're him with no wife or children I would go to a rehab in America, somewhere hot and rebuild my life for a year or so.

MidnightAura · 20/03/2018 09:55

I do feel sympathy for Dec. He hasn’t asked for this and his career has been impacted. I would love to see Cat back but she is expecting another baby, I believe she’s due around Easter. I just hope Ant’s replacement is not Scarlett Moffat!

Bundlesmads · 20/03/2018 10:04

lucille, definitely some snobbery. Also Ant left a woman which goes down like a bucket of cold sick on MN.

I’m not sure how bad that really was though. There was reporting this morning about Dec’s best man speech centring around the joke they had congratulations sent by Threshers and various pubs as they were such good customers. Sounds to me like it might have been a destructive relationship characterised by a mutual love of booze.

MiaowTheCat · 20/03/2018 10:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Susiesoap7 · 20/03/2018 10:14

Doesn't matter how much money you have, if little Dec has to stay at home with no work? Boring!

frasier · 20/03/2018 10:43

They have been in the public eye, "stars" all their adult lives. It would be a big change for Dec if that were to stop.

My prediction... he'll do a couple of talk shows to get his (PR) view out there, will do something small or a one off to test the water, will have his own show.

Cat Deeley was supposed to be doing something with them wasn't she? Suppose that time has passed now also.

ShortandAnnoying · 20/03/2018 16:07

If I was Dec I'd do a reality show with the family and showbiz friends.

dancerdog · 20/03/2018 16:14

Not his mother's fault, he's a grown man!

logicalmum · 20/03/2018 16:17

I feel sorry for Dec but only a little. Lots of people in life lose jobs that they love through no fault of their own. Most of us then will struggle to find similar work and would often have to have a career change. Dec is a multi millionaire, he's cushioned from any of life's hardships and money worries.

He could buy an island and turn it into a donkey retreat. , or anything that takes his fancy. Too many people have absolutely nothing, including not even having a roof over their heads. He should count his blessings.

HollyBayTree · 20/03/2018 16:21

fluff Acting like 12 year olds and being nasty under the guise of ‘bants’

The one thing they aren’t is nasty. Slapstick comedy, not to everyone’s taste, but they never denigrate members of the public, a bit of joshing with other 'clebs' eg taking the pee out of Dennis Wise short stature – but the joke is on Dec as he's shorter , the joke is always on Ant and Dec. Saturday Night Live is one show that is sit-down-able with the whole family - no filth, no sex, no innuendo, no spite, it's a lot of good humoured fun that makes a lot of people with troubled lives, or financial woes, or bereavement etc very happy to get nice prizes and holidays.

I'll take Ant and Dec any day of the week over 99% of other celebrities who really milk their stardom.. These two still remain very down to earth. You never see them garishly spending their money and flaunting wealth in a dreadfully ostentatious way. You never see them out boozing, carousing, falling out of night clubs, letching or any other poor behaviour

Whether they have money, and how much is irrelevant. A lot of people have mental health problems which may manifest in addictions. I didn’t realise money was how we should judge whether we have empathy for any persons human frailties. I despair sometimes, I really do.

MyKingdomForACaramel · 20/03/2018 16:26

Blimey when did sympathy become something that is not allowed of those who are wealthy?

Losing your job, your identity and possibly a friend is pretty shitty no matter what your bank balance says.

The80sweregreat · 20/03/2018 16:30

I do - a little bit - then I think about the homeless , the victims of Grenfell and Manchester last year and so many other problems in the world much bigger than this is. I’m sure he will be fine. All things come to an end.

I’m Just pleased that nobody was killed because of what Ant did.

Bluelady · 20/03/2018 16:32

I feel sorry for Dec too. But I think they'll take a couple of years out and then relaunch their careers. Regardless of all the insults being thrown at them here they're massively popular and will be welcomed back with open arms once Ant gets his shit sorted.

The police are taking their time charging him, aren't they? Wonder why.

HollyBayTree · 20/03/2018 16:37

The police are taking their time charging him, aren't they? Wonder why.

He may not have been drunk. I'm no expert but don’t you have to fail 2 breath tests and blood or urine test as well?

I've also read/heard this morning that both he and his mother had bangs on the head which might have accounted for the staggering when he forced the car door open. All ifs-and-buts though isnt it. TBH It's quite distasteful to speculate, there were some quite nasty threads I was reading, with the MN self appointed experts on alcoholism, cocaine abuse Hmm, screwing Lisa over and so forth, to the point MN Towers had to comment before another Gina Ford situation arose.

Bluelady · 20/03/2018 16:43

With you all the way, Holly. My thoughts are also that if he was drunk he'd have been charged by now. The press are all covering their backs: every other sentence says "allegedly". I really hope he wasn't drunk. It'll be interesting to see what the lynch mob says then.

HollyBayTree · 20/03/2018 16:49

Google is always useful!

The first (roadside) breathtest is called a 'preliminary'.

The second is called 'evidential' and can only be conductd in a police station or hospital and can only take place after the following -

Before commencing an evidential breath test, a police officer will ask the suspect:

"Have you in the last twenty minutes:
consumed any alcohol?
used any mouth spray?
used any mouth wash?
used any medication?
eaten anything?
inhaled anything?
taken anything?
brought anything up from your stomach?" (this is asked of Intoximeter EC/IR users only)

If a suspect has done any of the above then 20 minutes must elapse, since the time of the event, before an evidential alcohol breath test can be performed.

www.drinkdriving.org/police_breath_alcohol_test_evidential.php

Imsosceptical · 20/03/2018 16:54

The X factor of Ant and Dec has been their long enduring mateship, we love it and we love them. Ant is struggling, i imagine its been going on a while, I'm sure Dec is well aware, but as a true mate, he's never spoken publicly and is clearly doing all he can behind the scenes. what I find offensive is all these 'so called mates' speaking out on prime time tv, piers morgan being the first, he likes to say "I've been a friend of Ant for 20 years", go friend, just throw him under the bus for a few more minutes of fame, what a douche bag. Hows about being with your mate and supporting him privately? protecting him perhaps? Addiction is devastating and horrific, Ant is lucky to have access to and be treated by the best, but its by no means a guarantee of success, successful rehab comes from within and friends who mouth off to the world just make it even harder, and its hard, very hard, trust me xxxx