Matt Cardle says Ant McPartlin needs to ‘forget his career’ and take a break to beat the booze

MATT Cardle believes Ant McPartlin needs to take a long break if he wants to truly beat his battle with booze and prescription drugs.

The X Factor star, who went to rehab himself thanks to a daily cocktail of alcohol, prescription pills and illegal drugs, warns the presenter needs to “forget about his career”.

Speaking to the , Matt said:  “The last thing Ant needs to worry about is his career or getting back to work. I know there’s pressure to get back on TV because of how good Ant and Dec are as presenters.

“But he needs to focus on his health and forget about his career because that’s the only way he will get better.”

Discussing his own road to recovery as he gears up to release his new single, he added: “I went away fishing and basically didn’t pick up my phone for three months after rehab.”

Matt went on to say that there is “no shame” in Ant having a drink or drug addiction.

Last month Ant was charged with drink-driving last month following a collision.

He cancelled all of his upcoming television appearances and took himself off to rehab – less than a year after he sought treatment for his addiction to prescription pills and alcohol.

He appeared in court last week and pleaded guilty to the charge, resulting in him being handed a £86,000 fine and banned from driving for 20 months.

Earlier this year Matt, 34, revealed he had started “eating” Tramadol “for fun” at the height of his addiction.

The X Factor winner admitted he had begged to be prescribed the drug when he injured his finger but now admits he didn’t really need it and says it was “lucky” that he was never found dead somewhere because of his dependency.

He said: “I got lucky on a number of occasions not to have been found f***ing cold … I wasn’t that injured, I didn’t really need it. I started eating Tramadol for fun if I’m honest.

“Then the first time I did Valium was on a flight to LA and that was it. Valium and alcohol are lethal together anyway. It’s a muscle relaxant and your heart’s a muscle. The danger with them is when you mix them with alcohol you forget what you’re doing.”

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