Ant McPartlin has heaped praise on the surgeon who helped him overcome his painkiller addiction. The I'm a Celebrity presenter has been telling friends and family that NHS Professor David Deehan was pivotal to his recovery process. Ant visited the consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Freeman Hospital in his hometown Newcastle. The doctor performed an operation on his knee, after Ant's first unsuccessful operation in 2014 left him in chronic pain.
"Professor Deehan has been a huge part of turning Ant's life around," a source told The Sun. "Ant thinks he's brilliant and can't stop telling everyone how important this guy has been to his recovery. He was so let down by private healthcare, both in terms of his failed knee op and doctors who kept prescribing him dangerous painkillers in London. Ant knew he needed a different surgeon." Professor Deehan also told the newspaper: "It is always a privilege to help and surgery is a team effort. It is also very easy and a joy to treat a patient who is so honest and as motivated as Anthony."
Ant completed his two-month stint in rehab last weekend
Ant, 41, finished his two-month stint in rehab last weekend. He had become addicted to prescription medication following his unsuccessful knee operation in 2014, which left him popping pills "willy nilly". Revealing the true extent of his addictions, Ant confessed that he once ended up in hospital at 5am following a binge on pills. He became dependent on a cocktail of drugs, including addictive painkillers codeine and tramadol, along with sleeping pills. On top of this he would drink alcohol.
The TV star admitted his troubles to wife Lisa in June
The TV star told The Sun: "I was at the point where anything – prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs – I would take. And take them with alcohol, which is ridiculous. The doctors told me, 'You could have killed yourself.'" It wasn't until June that Ant admitted to his wife Lisa Armstrong and his best friend Declan Donnelly that he was in trouble, resulting in him admitting himself to rehab.