Inside Ant McPartlin's wife Anne-Marie and ex Lisa Armstrong's doomed friendship

16 May 2024 , 11:07

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Ant McPartlin and Anne-Marie Corbett have welcomed their first child together, three years after tying the knot, following the presenter's divorce from Lisa Armstrong

Ant McPartlin's wife Anne-Marie Corbett and ex-wife Lisa Armstrong shared a friendship before the former couple's split.

Anne-Marie – a boy named Wilder – three years after they tied the knot. Announcing the news, he shared a snap cradling his newborn son and showing off his tattoo, which includes the names of his wife, step-daughters and their dogs.

He captioned the post: "Welcome to the family. Wilder Patrick McPartlin. Born, 14/05/24 at 8.54 am. Baby is beautiful, Mummy's a legend, Sisters are over the moon. Dad's a mess!"

Anne-Marie is Ant's former personal assistant who worked for the same management company as Declan Donnelly's wife for ten years. The mother-of-two split from her husband a few months before Ant and his ex-wife Lisa broke up.

When the couple's relationship was confirmed, Lisa was outraged, as she tweeted: "To think she was MY friend!" The make-up artist was understandably devastated by the split and accused Anne-Marie of "breaking girl code".

Ant McPartlin’s ex Lisa Armstrong poses with boyfriend after concerning post

After they announced their relationship, Ant told The Sun in January 2019 that neither of them were looking for love. He said: "We were going through turmoil. It was the last thing on either of our minds to get into a relationship. But there we were like 'This felt so good, why deny it'."

Ant and Anne-Marie found love after his split from Lisa (REX/Shutterstock)

Anne-Marie worked for Lisa and Ant for six years (Twitter)

Before the split, Lisa was pictured several times with their one-time "house manager" - and was photographed bouncing one of Anne-Marie's daughters on her knee at a christening in 2009. Anne-Marie worked for the couple for six years and even organised their 10th wedding anniversary celebration in 2016.

In a further blow, Lisa is said to have doted on the former PA's two daughters. She reportedly bought the two girls, who were at primary school at the time, lavish gifts every year for Christmas and birthdays.

"She enjoyed doing it," the source told the Mail. "She also showered Anne-Marie with presents and even took her on holiday. Lisa and Anne-Marie were really good friends, she was a trusted part of the set-up."

Despite wanting kids of their own, in 2013 Ant told how him and Lisa had struggled. "There's a rumour that we [him and Dec] do everything together and I'm holding off having kids till Dec finds himself Mrs Right. I love that idea, but I'm afraid it's not true," he said. "Lisa and I would love to have kids. We're trying. It's tougher than you think when you get a bit older. We've been trying for a little while so fingers crossed."

Charlotte McIntyre