Who is the mechanic on wheeler dealers

Wheeler Dealers, which has aired since 2003, is a show on the Discovery Channel that follows Mike Brewer as he locates and purchases cars to restore and sell for a profit.

Índice Show

Why Ant left Wheeler Dealers
Why did Ant stay in California?
Who replaced Ant Anstead on Wheeler Dealers?
Is Ant still friends with Mike Brewer?

From 2017 to 2020, Mike was partnered with master mechanic Ant Anstead, who restored the vehicles and guided us through his repairs.

Mike and Ant made a great team for years, but in 2020, Ant officially announced his departure from the show.

Today, we’ll explore why Ant left the show and what he’s getting up to now.

Why Ant left Wheeler Dealers

Ant announced his departure from Wheeler Dealers on Instagram in November of 2020.

As the show headed back to the UK, Ant expressed his desire to stay in California and work on three new TV shows instead:

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A post shared by ant anstead (@ant_anstead)

Those three new shows were World’s Greatest Cars on Sky, Celebrity IOU: Joyride on Discovery+ and one project that is yet to be announced.

As Mike took Wheeler Dealers back to its original stomping ground, fans were left wondering why Ant chose to leave the show at the height of its popularity.

Why did Ant stay in California?

It’s fair to say that Wheeler Dealer fans were left a bit perplexed with the news that Ant was leaving the show for good.

While the original fanbase had long been calling for the show to return to the UK, they had come to enjoy Ant’s presence, sense of humour and expertise.

There are a few reasons why Ant Anstead might have chosen to remain in the US. His new television projects are a big part of this.

In 2021, Ant extended a contract with Discovery Channel to provide new shows to the Discovery+ platform.

Also, Ant’s personal life has been rooted in the US for over five years now.

Ant was originally born in Plymouth, Devon (UK).

When he joined Wheeler Dealers in 2017, he made the decision to relocate permanently to California.

Ant married American TV personality Christina Haack in 2017 and they share a son together.

After 3 years of marriage, the pair took the decision to split amicably and file for divorce.

In 2021, Ant began dating American actress Renée Zellweger (well-known for her recurring role as Bridget Jones).

As you can probably tell, Ant has built himself a new life in the US.

He has a home and a loving family, as well as numerous exciting projects coming up.

It must have been a difficult decision to leave Wheeler Dealers, but it just made sense for Ant to remain in California.

Who replaced Ant Anstead on Wheeler Dealers?

When Ant left the show in 2020, Mike Brewer and the production team found themselves in a familiar predicament: finding the next Wheeler Dealers mechanic.

Wheeler Dealers had already bounced back from an uncertain future in 2017 when Edd China left the show.

This is where Marc ‘Elvis’ Priestley comes in. Elvis was an F1 mechanic for McLaren from 1999 to 2009.

After leaving F1 with huge amounts of specialist car knowledge and experience under his belt, Elvis chose to focus on automotive media and journalism.

In 2020, he officially joined Wheeler Dealers as the third mechanic. The third time’s the charm, right?

To top it off, Elvis already had prior experience working alongside Mike on the Wheeler Dealers: Dream Car series.

Mike expressed his pure satisfaction in working with Elvis, stating that they ‘so enjoyed each other’s company’.

In truth, choosing Elvis to be the third mechanic on Wheeler Dealers was a no-brainer for Mike.

Is Ant still friends with Mike Brewer?

Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead remain good friends since Ant’s departure from Wheeler Dealers.

Ant’s decision to leave the show was not a matter of unhappiness or distrust in Mike or the production company. It simply came down to logistics.

Mike needed to return to the UK with Wheeler Dealers for a number of reasons: both personal and professional.

And Ant had established a life for himself out in the US. Thus, they went their separate ways.

There will always be good memories between the two of working together on the show. For instance, Ant helped Mike to make the biggest profit in Wheeler Dealers history.

Ant’s continued commitment to his friendship with Mike is shown in Ant’s willingness to make special appearances on Wheeler Dealers.

Ant is expected to pop up in episodes here and there when he travels back to the UK.

Summary

For car enthusiasts young and old, Wheeler Dealers is a highlight of automotive television.

It’s such a simple concept – buy a car, fix it up and sell it for profit – but it’s just so effective. It’s endlessly entertaining.

Mike has been holding down the Wheeler Dealers fort for nearly 20 years now.

Over that same time, audiences have had to adapt to three different mechanics holding the wrenches: Edd, Ant and now Elvis.

Accepting change is never easy for the die-hard audiences of a TV show. But it ensures that the show can continue and evolve in new and exciting formats.

How do you feel about Ant’s stint on Wheeler Dealers? Let us know below!

Former Wheeler Dealers mechanic Edd China is launching a new YouTube series called Workshop Diaries as he looks to branch out on his own.

The former partner of Used Car Awards host and current Wheeler Dealer front man Mike Brewer will work on a variety of vehicles, just as he did on the popular TV show.

China left the show to ‘pursue other interests’ and was replaced by Ant Anstead in 2017.

Anstead has now left the show too and Brewer has partnered with Mark Priestley as the show’s new mechanic.

In a trailer for China’s show, that has been uploaded to his YouTube channel, he says he will be taking the viewer along as he learns new skills and interviews interesting people.

Part of the series will see China visit people who have project cars at home and are struggling to complete them, helping viewers overcome stumbling blocks with their own car builds.

Other features include visiting experts to showcase unique skills, demonstrating classic and future technology, and test driving quirky vehicles.

In a special interview with Car Dealer Live last year, Mike Brewer gave his full account of why Edd China left Wheeler Dealers.

Brewer told Car Dealer, in a clip you can watch above: ”Me and Edd were bouncing along very happy, he was Godfather to my child, we were best friends.

‘We were bouncing along quite happy, but during the final year Edd was there he just became more difficult he became more angry with the way the show was being produced, and I could see that.

‘I had my frustrations too and they manifested themselves in different ways, but Edd’s frustration were taken out on people and crew and he put himself into a position where it became untenable really.

‘For Edd, what he wanted, more of less, was to work less. Unfortunately Wheeler Dealer’s is an animal, you really need to be devoted to it and work six days a week to it and work 17 hour days.

‘Don’t get me wrong Edd did that and he worked fantastically and he’s an amazing talent – a brilliant mechanic – but he just become so disenchanted with the whole notion of how we made the show.’

Brewer says the fact Wheeler Dealers was being filmed in America at the time also meant there were other distractions for China.

Brewer added: ‘When we were in California where we made the show and you have the beach and the sunshine outside, I get the need to want to spend more time doing that and spend more time out there than being in the workshop, which is a box you’re in for 12 hours a day.

‘So for Edd he just got to a stage where he simply had enough.

‘There was no arguing, we never shouted, we never rowed, he wasn’t sacked, he wasn’t pushed, he wasn’t tripped, he wasn’t cheated – none of that stuff.

‘All you read online is absolute crap, he simply decided one day, enough was enough, it wasn’t for him and he thought, and a lot of people do, he thought he was bigger than the show and he could leave and the show would die when he left, and that broke our hearts.’

Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead joined forces after Edd China left

Edd China posted a video after leaving the show giving his side of the story.

In it, he said: ‘Wheeler Dealers is a great car show. Making Wheeler Dealers though is no easy task and requires a massive effort.

‘Wheeler Dealers has been an enormous part of my life since 2002, a real roller coaster of demanding challenges and triumphant moments.

‘Right now though, I just feel relieved and exhilarated with freedom and I can’t wait to get cracking on the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.’

For his new YouTube show, although China is better known for working on classic vehicles, the presenter says that he has gained an interest in electric vehicle technology since leaving Wheeler Dealers, so this will feature too.

Converting classic cars to electric is becoming a booming business, so it’s likely this will play a big part in China’s episodes.