DOUBLE TROUBLE

TV presenter Ant Anstead takes on the double challenge of renovating cars and a house for the second series of Born Mechanic

- Jo Berry

As Mr Renée Zellweger, TV presenter and car enthusiast Ant Anstead usually spends most of his time in California. However, filming the second series of his Quest show Born Mechanic has seen him relocate back to the UK and he’s been bringing the Bridget Jones star he calls “The Missus” with him – and treating her to a tour of Somerset. The new series sees Ant renovate a rundown farmhouse for his mum and dad.

But Ant, 46, who has 21-year-old daughter Amelie and son Archie, 19, from his first marriage, and five-year-old son Hudson with ex-wife Christina Haack, needs all the help he can get. The reality series, which began in 2024, follows Ant as he restores cars and sells them at auction – all to fund the ongoing house renovations. And the job is too big for one man, so his family pitch in.

“It’s the first time in 13 years of TV that I’ve really welcomed a peek behind the curtain,” he says. “My parents are in it, my aunties are in it, my brothers are in it, my kids are in it. My family is on the shared mission of getting my parents in. Archie and Amelie are doing it because they want Nana and Grandpa to have a house.”