‘Serious’ blaze at Ant McPartlin’s former mansion

Entertainment

A £5m mansion in Chiswick, west London – which used to belong to TV presenter Ant McPartlin – has been damaged by fire.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled the blaze in Grove Park Gardens, which was reported to London Fire Brigade at 9.46am.

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Pic: X/@LondonFire

Crews used a 32m (105ft) ladder while fighting the fire in the seven-bedroom home.

The 4,435sq ft property belongs to the star’s ex-wife, Lisa Armstrong, who rents it out.

McPartlin‘s TV partner, Declan Donnelly, lives just a few doors down in the same road, with his wife Ali Astall and their two children Isla and Jack.

The house is estimated to have more than doubled in price since McPartlin and Ms Armstrong bought it for £2.3m in 2006, the year they married.

As firefighters tackled the blaze, a local resident told The Independent: “The fire looks pretty serious and definitely not under control. An ambulance passed me as I drove down the road with blue lights and siren on.”

The fire was brought under control just before lunchtime, with crews remaining at the scene into the afternoon.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Lisa Armstrong (L-R), Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall at Royal Ascot in 2015
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(L-R): Lisa Armstrong, Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall in 2015

McPartlin and Ms Armstrong were together for more than 20 years and married for 11 years before filing for divorce in January 2018.

The break-up came after McPartlin entered rehab in 2017, following struggles with a two-year addiction to painkillers as a result of a knee operation.

He later pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing while more than twice over the legal limit in southwest London in March 2018.

Read more from Sky News:
Ant and Dec announce Byker Grove reboot
Ant McPartlin and Anne-Marie Corbett tie the knot

McPartlin first met Ms Armstrong, a make-up artist, at a roadshow in Newcastle in the mid-1990s, when she was an aspiring pop star in the band Deuce.

McPartlin has since married his former personal assistant, Anne-Marie Corbett, in 2019.