Ant McPartlin turned to alcohol to escape his "underlying unhappiness".
The 43-year-old TV presenter – whose marriage with make-up artist Lisa Armstrong ended in 2018 – has revealed he was secretly drinking in order to cope with the "stresses and strains" of his life.
Ant confessed: "Life hit me hard. I was going through a lot of personal stuff that was very publicised. The problem is you take something or you drink to escape from an underlying unhappiness."
Ant pleaded guilty to drink-driving following a car crash in London in March last year.
And the award-winning TV star – who has enjoyed a successful on-screen partnership with Dec Donnelly – confessed to being "dependent" on alcohol around the time of the crash.
He told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "I was still drinking in a dependent state. Not all the time. But enough to worry about it.
"I hadn’t addressed it. It was building up which led to the day of the crash which was the single worst day of my life."
Ant subsequently entered rehab in a bid to regain control of his life, and the popular star says he no longer drinks alcohol.
He shared: "I was so traumatised after the crash, I was in a really bad way. I was still under medical care.
"With hindsight, I wasn’t in a good place for a while. I hadn’t properly been assessed. That came very quickly post-crash. I volunteered to go into a proper institution where I was technically assessed.
"I gained so much. I know I was dependent on alcohol and I don’t drink now."
Ant – who recently returned to TV work – also feels like he owes his fans an explanation for his recent behaviour.
He said: "I owe it to fans, the viewers of our shows, to give an explanation to what’s gone on and apologise for what I did."
Ant McPartlin: I drank to escape my underlying unhappiness
