Ant Anstead - Television Presenter, Timeline and Life

He was born on March 28, 1979, in Plymouth, Devon, England as the second oldest of four boys of his parents. Not much is known about family background and childhood of Anstead who lived in the cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England till he was ten years old before relocating to the county of Hertfordshire in southern England. Anstead would build bespoke cars as a kid.

He attended the boys secondary school Richard Hale School in Hertford, Hertfordshire for some time and then studied at the independent school near Hertford called the Haileybury School to finish his A – Levels.

In 1999 he joined the territorial police force of the county of Hertfordshire, the Hertfordshire Constabulary and started serving as a Police Constable. He was first posted at the county’s historic market town and civil parish, Bishop's Stortford.

He was shifted to the Cheshunt police station and thereafter he became a Tactical Firearms Team (TFU) member in Welwyn Garden City and with this he became one of the youngest armed officers in the history of the UK. His tenure in the police department saw him receive two commendations for acts of bravery.

His love for the car world led him to resign from the police in 2005 so that he can take up a career in car building. He began to restore and build cars for different clients and made recreation cars as well as one-offs.

Initially he commenced on making bespoke classic vehicles according to specifications of individual clients. With time his client list expanded across the globe along with his reputation as a true master of car building. At present he has an international wait list that exceeds more than two years. Many of the unique pieces made by him displaying art and sculpture have found place in museums and private collections around the world.

In 2014 he came up with his own television Production Company and produced the show called ‘The World’s Most Expensive Cars’. That year he accepted the offer of featuring as a presenter of a new Channel 4 one-hour automotive show ‘For the Love of Cars’. He presented the show along with actor and car enthusiast Philip Glenister. It was aired by the British public-service TV broadcaster in the UK from April 20, 2014 and till present 16 episodes has been broadcast with the last being aired on November 20, 2016.

He featured along with James May and Kate Humble as one of the presenters of the BBC Two live show ‘Building Cars Live’. The documentary TV series was broadcast for three episodes on October 20 and October 21 in 2015 and on March 21 in 2016.

In 2016 he went on to present several television shows. These included Channel 4’s One-off TV shows ‘Craft I Made This’ and ‘The Lost Lotus’; Channel 4 / BBC Worldwide’s documentary TV series ‘Worlds Most Expensive Cars’; and BBC’s One-off TV show ‘Chinese New Year the Biggest Celebration on Earth’.

The following year he appeared as presenter of many other television shows including the Channel 4’s One-off TV show ‘Craft It Yourself’; BBC TV series Britains Greatest Inventions (Live); and Velocity Channel’s One-off TV shows SEMA live show and Barret Jackson auctions (Live).

One of the most notable TV features of Anstead is presenting the British television series ‘Wheeler Dealers’ that is fronted by Mike Brewer. Edd China who featured as the mechanic of the Discovery channel program was replaced by Anstead in the fourteenth series of the show in 2017.

Live stages of different prestigious car shows in the UK are also hosted by him. In May 2017 he published a book titled ‘Cops and Robbers: The Story of the British Police Car’ on the story behind the British Police car.

He has also featured in several entertainment shows like the Channel 4 aired live British television programme ‘Sunday Brunch’ that features cookery and interviews on Sunday mornings with celebrity guests; the BBC One aired live British television magazine and chat show programme ‘The One Show’; and the ITV broadcast British daytime television programme ‘This Morning’.

Apart from his endeavours as a TV presenter and all-round car nut, Anstead also remained a semi-professional footballer with an overall experience of fifteen years. During the tenure he played more than 700 matches playing at Ryman and conference level and transitioned from a goalkeeper to a striker. He emerged as the only player who won the Ryman league promotion playing in both the positions.

He married Louise Anstead (nee Herbert) in 2005 with whom he has two children, Amelie born in 2003 and Archie born in 2006. The couple however called it quits and divorced in 2017.

At present he resides in Newport Beach California. He was romantically associated with American real estate investor and TV personality Christina El Moussa in 2018 whom he started dating from November 2017.

He is into post dinner speaking as also involves in motivational speaking in charities and schools. He also patrons the charity called ‘Harrisons Fund’ that is dedicated to fight for children suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.