Ant McPartlin offers fresh divorce talks with ex-wife in effort to reach settlement as he prepares for I’m A Celebrity
ANT McPartlin has offered to have fresh divorce talks with ex-wife Lisa in a desperate bid to reach a settlement on the eve of the new series of I’m A Celebrity.
His olive branch offer comes after the couple got bogged down in months of wrangling with Lisa determined not to sign an NDA.
The presenter has made a move for new mediation talks – which take place away from court between their lawyers – as he wants Lisa to be happy.
But sources close to Strictly make-up artist Lisa, 43, say she refuses to be pressured into accepting a pay-off unless it’s right for her.
The warring couple remain at loggerheads over a £62 million financial settlement and left arbitration last month having made no progress.
Ant, 43, who returns to I’m a Celebrity with Dec on November 17 after missing the show last year, fears the divorce case will be sent back to the High
Court if a deal cannot be struck between lawyers. It could lead to a very public and messy divorce hearing.
He wants to reach an agreement as soon as possible and behind closed doors.
Lisa is currently living in the £6 million former marital home in Chiswick.
Ant has since moved into a £6million home in nearby Wimbledon with lover and former personal assistant Anne-Marie Corbett, 43, and her two children. But he and Lisa are still unable to agree how to divide their wealth.
A major sticking point over any future deal is Lisa’s refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement. They must also come to an agreement over custody of their beloved five-year-old chocolate Labrador, Hurley.
He currently spends alternate weeks with the pair.
The ongoing stalemate has so far seen the legal bill soar way above the £1million mark.
They split in January last year, five months after Ant left rehab for a two-year addiction to painkillers and a battle with booze.
In April 2018, Ant was banned from the roads for 20 months and fined £86,000 for drink-driving after his Mini hit two cars in Richmond. He returned to rehab for further treatment and said he would take a break from TV presenting.
We then revealed last June how Ant had found new love with the couple’s former PA, Anne-Marie – which publicly exposed the bitter break-up.
Fuming Lisa claimed Anne-Marie had betrayed her – tweeting: “Yeah My Friend and OUR Pa who I let into OUR home.”
Lisa divorced Ant and was granted a decree nisi in October last year on the grounds of his adultery with Anne-Marie.
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He admitted it only on the basis that he didn’t begin a relationship with her until after his marriage split.
Ant missed last year’s I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here! and was replaced by stand-in Holly Willoughby as he continued his recovery.
But he returned to work in January as he reunited with Dec for Britain’s Got Talent auditions and is now ready for his return to the jungle.
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