Ant Anstead, who starred in HGTV’s “Christina on the Coast” alongside then-wife Christina Haack, opened up about his career as a police officer before finding fame.
Ant Anstead’s Police Career
The “Celebrity IOU: Joyride” host revealed during a recent appearance on the “Road to Success” podcast that he joined the police academy at age 18.
“I joined the police. I was 18 and a half, you know, sent off to police training. And actually, it turned out the police is the perfect place if you’re a car guy because you work shifts,” he explained, as seen in a clip shared via Instagram on April 21. “So I ended up having tons of time off, because you know, you do a night shift or an early shift.”
He added, “So I was rotating the renovating of cars in the garage at home. My dad’s garage at the school, whilst working as a police officer. As a police officer, I worked my way up. I became an armed police officer quite young, quite early on. And I’m really incredibly proud of my police career.”
Anstead previously revealed that his decision to become a police officer was rooting in his desire not to go to college.
“I knew I didn’t want to go down the education route with University etc., so ended up a copper, and I can honestly say, it’s the best decision I have ever made,” Anstead told Influx in 2016. “I loved being in the police … I received two commendations for bravery and have faced a number of life-threatening incidents — really opening my eyes to what humans are capable of. When you’re standing in front of someone armed — that’s real fear — it kind of makes standing on stage or in front of a camera easy.”
Ant Anstead Became a British Star
Anstead ultimately resigned from his police career to pursue his passion for car building. In the years since, he has hosted a number of car shows, beginning with “Building Cars Live,” in 2015.
“I was always a car guy, so I always went everywhere in a classic. I’ve only owned classics as a kid,” he told MotorTrend in 2019. “I used to buy, fix, and sell a car, pretty much one a month, with the annoyance of my dad, from the little single-car garage in the back of my parents’ house. I got to a point where I was so obsessed with cars, I probably had five or six out there.”
In 2017, Anstead was tapped to replace Edd China as host of hit show “Wheeler Dealers.”
That same year, Anstead began dating “Flip or Flop” star Christina Haack. Their relationship progressed quickly before they tied the knot in December 2018 in Newport Beach, California.
Haack gave birth to the couple’s son, Hudson, the following September. Haack, a staple on HGTV, introduced her husband to her world in California, where he would appear on a number of her shows.
Their relationship would not last the test of time, however. They called it quits in September 2020. In addition to Hudson, Anstead is father to daughter Amelie and son Archie, whom he shares with his first wife.
Anstead has been in a relationship with “Bridget Jones’s Diary” star Renee Zellweger since April 2021, but largely keeps his romantic life private.
