Ant McPartlin and wife's 11-year marriage ends in 30 seconds after he admits adultery

Ant McPartlin - one of half of Ant and Dec and one of the biggest stars of British television - has been granted a divorce from his wife Lisa after he admitted adultery.

The 11-year marriage of the former presenter of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! came to an end in a court hearing lasting just 30 seconds after a district judge granted the couple a decree nisi.

District Judge Alun Jenkins found that McPartlin “has committed adultery and that the petitioner [Mrs McPartlin] finds it intolerable to live with the respondent.”

It was reported earlier this year that Mr McPartlin has been involved in a relationship with his personal assistant, Anne-Marie Corbett.

Sources close to the star said he admitted adultery on the grounds that his relationship with Miss Corbett, 42, began after the break-up of his marriage. Under divorce laws he technically has to admit adultery because he was still married when the relationship began.

Neither Mr McPartlin nor Mrs McPartlin were present at the divorce hearing. The marriage will be automatically dissolved within six weeks unless either party explains to the court why that should not be the case.

McPartlin, 42, confirmed in January that he and his wife had split up following months of speculation about their relationship.

In a statement at the time, a representative said: "In response to the recent speculation in the media, Ant is very sad to announce that, after eleven years, he is ending his marriage to Lisa McPartlin.

"Ant asks for privacy at this difficult time, for both himself, Lisa and their immediate families. No further statement will be made."

Sources said the pair, who were teenage sweethearts, are negotiating a financial settlement. Mr McPartlin is said to be worth an estimated £62 million.

The couple met at a roadshow in Newcastle in the mid-1990s, when Mrs McPartlin was an aspiring pop star in Deuce. They married in July 2006 at St Nicolas Church, in Taplow, Bucks.

Mr McPartlin has previously spoken of their struggle to have children and in recent years his personal life has gone through frequent turbulent spells.

Last year, McPartlin entered rehab after struggling with a two-year addiction to super-strength painkillers following a knee operation in 2015.

In April he was banned from the road for 20 months and fined £86,000 for driving while more than twice the legal limit.

He later announced he was stepping back from TV commitments and would not appear on the next series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

Recent photographs of McPartlin show him to be a shadow of the cheeky faced youngster who emerged from Byker Grove, the children’s TV show set in his native Newcastle upon Tyne, in which he starred as ‘PJ’ alongside his future on screen partner Declan Connelly.

Mrs McPartlin, a makeup artist on Strictly Come Dancing who said she had previously considered Ms Corbett a friend, has made a number of pointed comments about the break up of her marriage. She recently ‘liked’ a 3am tweet from a fan who said her dog Harley "has her back".

McPartlin will be replaced by Holly Willoughby, who will host the show alongside Declan Donnelly from Australia later this year.