Wheeler Dealers host Mike Brewer has opened up on working with Edd China’s replacements Ant Anstead and Marc Priestley.
The TV star hosted the iconic car restoration show with Edd between 2003 and 2017 before they parted ways.
Edd officially explained he quit due to creative differences with the new American producers of the show.
Ant Anstead took over the role in late 2017 and worked alongside Mike for three seasons.
The new duo were flying high in America in late 2019 when Mike’s mother had become “desperately ill”.
Mike talked to show bosses who agreed he could bring the show back to Britain but Ant decided to stay behind. The TV host admitted Ant had become “anchored” to America and “had a life” Stateside after the birth of his child.
But, he praised Ant for his support in relaunching the show back in Britain despite not being involved.
Speaking to the Road to Success podcast: “I was given this opportunity to bring Wheeler Dealers back to the UK because of my family. They said ‘you need to be near your family, do you want to go back home, do you want to be next to them’.
“And I said of course I do, I need to be there for them. I love the show but it’s not as important as being next to my family during this crisis.
“I had this conversation with Ant, who is the most loving person and most wonderful person I have ever worked with up to that point.
“He said ‘please go home. Be with your family, Don’t worry about me, don’t worry about this TV show, go home. Go home and talk about how we can create Wheeler Dealers in the UK’.”
Mike got back in touch with Ant to pitch the idea of a UK return for Wheeler Dealers but the former co-host opted to stay.
He added: “When I reached out with Ant, he was already on a different career path. He’s Mr Hollywood, he’s a great-looking guy, sparkle in the eye. He can achieve anything, he’s brilliant.
“Ant said ‘just go and do it but don’t f*** it up’. So I said to Elvis (Marc Priestley), do you want to be the mechanic on Wheeler Dealers.”
The former McLaren F1 mechanic had experience on TV having been involved with Mike’s DreamCar series.
Mike continued: “[Elvis] thought I was joking, told me to f*** ff. He put down the phone to me, phoned Ant and said ‘Mike’s just asked me to join him on Wheeler Dealers’.
“And Ant said ‘please do it, don’t f*** it up, please do it, do it with my love’. So Elvis became my wingman on Wheeler Dealers and thankfully he did because it’s just been amazing working with him.
“This next evolution of Wheeler Dealers, the last four years dong Dream Car and Wheeler Dealers with Elvis has been the most fantastic [time].”
