Ant McPartlin is ENGAGED to Anne-Marie Corbett after romantically proposing on Christmas Eve

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Ant McPartlin is engaged to girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett after romantically popping the question on Christmas Eve.

The presenter, 45, has been linked to the personal assistant, 43, since March 2018 and it is expected that a ‘thrilled’ Declan Donnelly will ‘act as the best man’ at their wedding – just as he was at Ant’s first nuptials back in 2006.

It comes three years after Ant confirmed he had split from his wife of 12 years, make-up artist Lisa Armstrong, 44.

A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Ant and Amzie are delighted to announce their engagement. The proposal took place on Christmas Eve at home in a very romantic setting.’

While a pal told The Sun: ‘Ant has been planning this for some time – but wanted to make sure the moment was just right. 

‘He’s a traditionalist, so got down on one knee after first checking with Anne Marie’s family that he had their blessing. It was super-romantic, and obviously Anne-Marie said “yes” straight away.’

‘Obviously getting engaged in the midst of a pandemic isn’t ideal when it comes to planning a wedding… at the moment a summer ceremony is looking extremely unlikely, so it may well be a 2022 affair.’ 

They added that Ant is expected to ask his co-host Dec to be his best man and that the presenter thoughtfully designed Anne-Marie’s ring himself.

Dec was also best man at Ant’s first wedding to ex Lisa in Buckinghamshire back in 2006 and is said to be ‘thrilled’ about the engagement.

Ant also got the honour of fulfilling the best man role at Dec’s nuptials to Ali Astall in 2015 where the duo wore matching bright blue suits. 

The engagement also comes after Ant made a sweet reference to Anne-Marie on I’m A Celebrity when he said ‘my happy place is at home with my girlfriend.’ 

During one of the trials, radio host Jordan North, 30, who finished second in the show, had to lay entombed in a metal cage while 50 snakes slithered all over him.

In an attempt to make the 10 minutes go by faster, Jordan chatted away to the hosts and asked them random questions as well as for their autographs.

The DJ asked the duo to name their ‘happy place’, telling Ant: ‘You go first.’

He quickly said, ‘at home with my girlfriend and the kids’, which prompted an ‘oh, that’s lovely’ from Jordan as he tried his best to stay composed with the snakes.    

Ant and Anne-Marie were first linked in March 2018, two months after Ant released a statement to confirm that he had split from wife of 12-years Lisa Armstrong.  

Anne-Marie separated from her husband Scott in October 2017, and the pair amicably co-parent their two daughters. 

In March 2018, Anne-Marie, the former couple’s personal assistant, was seen giving Ant a packed lunch outside his house. 

She also accompanied Ant to his court date, where he was fined £86,000 and disqualified from driving for 20 months after admitting drink-driving, in April 2018.

The pair continued to be seen over the next several months, and in June 2018, having revealed that she didn’t know Ant and Anne-Marie were dating, Lisa accused Ant’s new girlfriend of ‘breaking the girl code’ by dating the TV star.

In October 2018, just days before his and Lisa’s divorce application was granted, Ant was seen holding his phone, which had him and Anne-Marie as the screensaver.

Ant and Lisa’s union legally came to an end during a 30-second hearing. However in November 2018, the pair were said to be fighting over custody of dog, Hurley.

Lisa and Ant finalised their divorce in April 2020 after their split in 2018 following the presenter’s highly documented battle with painkillers and alcohol.  

Saturday Night Takeaway’s Ant was reported to have handed over £31m to Lisa in their divorce settlement, including their £5m home in West London, after an ‘eight-hour negotiation’.

The beauty expert was said to have been the ‘peacemaker’ during an eight-hour long discussion about her divorce from the TV star, claimed The Sun.

The publication first alleged the TV veteran offered up more than half of his estimated £50m fortune, but was ‘delighted’ that the case has come to an end as he can ‘move on’, two years after announcing their split.

However, as the news broke, the former singer took to Twitter to deny the reports, posting: ‘Nope a load of nonsense AGAIN….’

She went to ‘like’ tweets that stated: ‘No amount of money could ever compensate for what this poor girl has had to endure’, and ‘Get what you can!

‘You deserve it! Terrible treatment of you since you found out when we did! And with a so called friend! It’s heartbreaking behaviour,’ said another. 

In 2019, friends of the former couple told The Mail On Sunday that despite efforts by Ant to keep their split low-key, Lisa still wanted her day in court.

Lisa is understood to have felt that Ant ‘got away with a lot’ following their split. She was also believed to be dismayed and deeply hurt that he moved on so quickly when he started a new relationship with Anne-Marie.

A source close to the couple said: ‘Ant has been very generous in terms of the financial settlement but Lisa is totally the opposite of someone who is motivated by money.

‘She doesn’t care about that – she earns her own. But she has been so hurt by all of this.

‘What the general public and his fans don’t realise is that Ant’s decision to end the marriage came after years of Lisa trying to save him from himself.

‘Watching him move on was very, very difficult. Lisa is very much aware that a judge may not award her as much as Ant is offering but she doesn’t care.

‘She has suffered tremendously in all of this and she wants her day in court.’

Their union legally came to an end during a 30-second hearing in October 2018, finalising over a decade of marriage.

During the hearing, Ant had to technically admit adultery with Anne-Marie as their relationship officially began while he and Lisa were still married.

A year before they split, Ant entered rehab after struggling with a two-year addiction to super-strength painkillers following a knee operation in 2015.

In April 2018, he was banned from the road for 20 months and fined £86,000 for driving while more than twice the legal limit, according to police.