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AIBU?

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Original poster

To hope Ant

162 replies

Theresasmayshoes11 · 21/03/2018 09:28

Gets the help he needs and gets his life back on track. Glad no one was hurt in the incident and hope to see him back on the TV with Dec as soon as he’s better. To not sneer and be gleeful at the implosion of another human being or so glad that a ‘national treasure’ has shown himself to be fragile.

OP posts:
mehfruittea · 21/03/2018 09:54

The thing about addiction is there is also massive denial. I say this as a spouse of an alcoholic who has hot rock bottom and is currently 5 months sober.

DH always thought he had control. He would deny being drunk, saying his tolerance was high, it was nothing.

Those who say he should have got an Uber or a chauffeur don't understand addiction, to understand he was too drunk to drive we require him to admit his addiction to himself. He's come out of rehab and relapsed, probably thinking he had the tools to 'control' the drink rather than understand he will never be able to control it and total abstinence is the only way. He is on a journey and I hope he gets to acceptance soon so that he can more forward.

Of course my sympathy and empathy for him as a person struggling with addiction does not mean I think it's ok to drink drive. Everybody's rock bottom is different. Let's hope this is his.

Samcro · 21/03/2018 09:57

wow how many more threads about a drunk driver?
odd in the extreme,
if he had killed someone in the other car, would people still be saying oh poor Ant.

Millipedewithherfeetup · 21/03/2018 09:59

Does anyone know how much over the limit he was ?

frankchickens · 21/03/2018 10:00

I take no pleasure in any of it but I also don't "hope to see him back on the TV with Dec" just as he doesn't take any interest in my job.

I really couldn't care less.

elisenbrunnen · 21/03/2018 10:01

You say you don't hate the driver who hit your child OP - but he'd fallen asleep. He didnt make that choice.

Ant chose to drink, and then drive. Whatever else is wrong in his life, he still chose to do that.

Lovemusic33 · 21/03/2018 10:01

I hope he’s treated the same as anyone else who drinks and drives. He could have killed someone, he broke the law so should face up to the consequences. I have sympathy for anyone with an addiction but no sympathy for anyone that makes the choice to get behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs. He’s may be an addict but he’s not stupid? Or maybe he is stupid?

elisenbrunnen · 21/03/2018 10:03

Those who say he should have got an Uber or a chauffeur don't understand addiction, - maybe I don't.

But I understand that you DO NOT drive a car after having a drink. I don't drink at all if I'm driving - not even one.

everyone should understand this.

TERFragetteCity · 21/03/2018 10:10

My dd was badly injured by a driver who fell asleep. She wasn’t as lucky so I actually know far more about this issue than you lot obviously do.

You do not speak for everyone injured by a drunk driver. You have no idea what the experiences of the people responding to this thread are.

JaneEyre70 · 21/03/2018 10:12

I think it just goes to show that you can have fame, wealth and privilege but still get ripped apart by your demons. I'd felt huge sympathy for him until Sunday - no matter what shit is going on in your life, you don't risk the lives of others. Ever.
I sadly think he's going to have a really hard time coming back from this. Everyone around him must have seen he was struggling, but did nothing. That's the saddest part of it all to me. He's looked haunted and out of it on the TV. He was pushed back to work too quickly, and I think ITV and his management should be hanging their heads in shame.

SilverySurfer · 21/03/2018 10:14

I don't give a damn who he is or what addiction he may have, there is no possible excuse for him drink driving. If you or I posted on here and said we had been arrested for DUI, you can guarantee that 100% responding would quite rightly say they had zero sympathy and we were wrong. Why should it be any different for him.

As for describing him as a national treasure, it's so absurd I can't find the words for laughing.

purplelass · 21/03/2018 10:15

He did a bad thing, he knows it, everyone knows it.

The fact that he's a celebrity shouldn't even come into it, other than the fact that he can afford expensive rehab.

I love Ant & Dec as presenters, and wonder what's going to happen to them in the future. It's Dec I feel sorry for, he's done nothing wrong but is deeply affected by all this.

italiancortado · 21/03/2018 10:15

We all make terrible mistakes in life.

i think the most judgey posters are probably the ones who make the most

Pish. People can make mistakes but not break the law. They can make mistakes but not risk lives.

It's nothing to do with being 'judgy' people are enraged b cause drink driving is despicable. And it's a despicable choice.

He chose to do that. Nobody is judging him any further than his own arrogant actions.

QuiteLikely5 · 21/03/2018 10:18

Where is the evidence that it was his fault?

Nobody knows the details

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 21/03/2018 10:20

I don't think what he did was a mistake. If he had been drinking heavily then he knew it. He knew when he got in that car that he had been drinking. He decided to get into a car knowing he had been drinking to take a totally unnecessary journey.

I feel no joy or glee but not much sympathy either.

Mulberry72 · 21/03/2018 10:20

My PIL’s were hit by a drunk and drugged up driver, they both had to be cut from the wreckage of the car and sustained terrible life changing injuries.

I’ve no sympathy for anyone who gets behind the wheel of a lethal weapon after having drunk alcohol or taken drugs.

They deserve all they get. Even if they are a “National Treasure”.

Ant is an arsehole.

Trampire · 21/03/2018 10:22

I totally agree OP.

ephemeralfairy · 21/03/2018 10:24

I don't really care to be honest. It's been clear for a long time that he has problems and should be in some sort of long-term programme to help with his substance abuse and mental health issues. He is in the incredibly privileged position of being able to pay for whatever he needs and not sit on an NHS waiting list for months. I don't feel sorry for him at all.

IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 21/03/2018 10:24

Of course, Quite.

Every single person who is entirely innocent of wrongdoing:

  • veers around a corner in a built up residential area on the wrong side of the road at 50mph
  • is witnessed by witnesses and caught on camera staggering and shouting at their mother
  • hits at least two other vehicles
  • sends a small child to hospital to be checked over and causes her father to say he thought his entire family would be "wiped out"
  • resists the police and fails a breathalyser test
  • spends 10 hours at the police station
  • disappears immediately for a "crisis meeting"
  • puts a hugely public and high earning career on instant hiatus right at the peak of its season
  • ships themselves off to rehab

We don't know exactly what the issue is. We know the man has been through a lot, has problems that inspire sympathy - but still chose to get in a car and drive like that, when he could have afforded any number of other safe options. It's silly to keep insisting that "we need the facts". We have enough facts to know he made a terrible selfish decision and he's incredibly lucky someone else didn't pay a truly terrible price for that decision.

LifeBeginsAtGin · 21/03/2018 10:25

This is the crazy world we live in. If you are a rich and famous sleb everyone gushes around them, wishing them well in rehab - how being a twit must be so hard for them. Just look at Rooney - did do his career or status any damage.

SillySallySingsSongs · 21/03/2018 10:27

As someone who has had a family member killed by a drunk driver I'll save my sympathy for the parents that lost their child thank you.

SillySallySingsSongs · 21/03/2018 10:28

*...for parents and families like mine that lost their child...

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 21/03/2018 10:30

To not sneer and be gleeful at the implosion of another human being or so glad that a ‘national treasure’ has shown himself to be fragile

I haven't any 'sneering' or 'glee' Confused

I've seen a ton of comments saying that no-one really gives a shit if he's famous or if he's back on TV, and that while most wish him well in treatment, he deserves to be meet the consequences of his actions.

But the glee and the pleasure at someone’s life falling apart has been hideous on here

Where is all of this 'glee and pleasure' that someone's life is falling apart?

i think the most judgey posters are probably the ones who make the most

Alrighty...

IanRushesInadequateFlushes · 21/03/2018 10:30

Plus, as I said on another thread just now - even if his alcohol test came back crystal clear, he still CHOSE to drive like a nutcase around a corner in a highly built up residential area. How is that ok in anyone's eyes? Even if he is famous Hmm

QuiteLikely5 · 21/03/2018 10:31

He was not charged with dangerous driving to my knowledge?

Going 50mph? Proof please?

Perhaps someone else has been charged for causing the accident?

I really doubt if you were drunk your priority would be to walk the dogs!

He has not been charged with resisting arrest?

kateandme · 21/03/2018 10:31

a person with struggles is the prson id like to see no matter who it was.so whilst we might be quicker to look and judge a "non celeb" I want then that if we read further and found the person to have the same issues we would then feel the same about them and wanting them to get help.

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