Who is Ant Middleton and why did he get sent to prison?

Who is Ant Middleton and why did he get sent to prison? This Morning viewers have been wondering  after the TV star spoke candidly about his time in jail. 

This Morning fans were left wondering what had previously happened to the SAS Who Dares Wins star after he started talking about his past life to hosts Phillip Schofield and Josie Gibson, who was standing in for Holly Willoughby today.

British adventurer was promoting his new children's book while speaking on the show—but who is Ant Middleton and why did he go to jail?

Who is Ant Middleton?

Ant Middleton is a former soldier and marine born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and after his father died he moved and was brought up in France. He has become a well-known television personality and writer thanks to his adventurous side - best known as the former Chief Instructor on the Channel 4 television series SAS: Who Dares Wins, a role he held from 2015 until 2021.

The reality quasi-military training television programme helped him find fame as a celebrity and following on from this success, Ant became the Captain in the adventure/reality-show Mutiny (2017) -  the show was a re-enactment of the Mutiny on the Bounty and Middleton described the experience as "mentally speaking, the hardest thing I've ever done". He also worked on the survival show Escape. In 2018 he climbed Mount Everest for the TV show Extreme Everest with Ant Middleton.

The TV star, 41, has released a series of books but he is set to release his first children's book called Mission: Total Resilience which is available to pre-order ahead of its release on 17th March

Why did Ant Middleton get sent to prison?

Ant Middleton got sent to prison after he was convicted of the unlawful wounding of one police officer and of common assault upon a second outside a nightclub in 2013, for which he was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He has previously spoken candidly about the "alcohol-fuelled mistake" that led to him spending four months behind bars and described it as his "biggest learning curve" in his life, during his appearance on the ITV show.

He explained, "My biggest failure was going to prison, but boy oh boy, was that my biggest learning curve. Why was I there? Talk about self-reflection, talk about holding yourself accountable."

Ant emphasised that ultimately, he understood it was about not trying to "pass the blame" or make an excuse for his behaviour.

"Holding yourself accountable, being honest with yourself. Honestly, it will free you as an individual. But it’s really hard to do,’ he stated.

"So when I went into prison, it was like alright, this is no doubt my biggest failure, but the biggest lesson I’ve learnt from it is understanding who I am, what I need to do differently and attacking life differently and it’s changed me as an individual and it’s changed my life."

Following his own experience of being in jail, Ant outlined how he used his past to offer advice to others, urging them ‘not to be afraid of failure’.

"Because you will get your most valuable lessons from failure," he added.

You can watch the interview below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imo7ciLuKrg

What special forces was Ant Middleton in?

Ant Middleton was a sniper and point man in the Special Boat Service in 2008 where he served four years - in this time he completed a further two tours in Afghanistan and reached the rank of corporal.

After leaving the military he worked as a security guard for VIPs and later as a security expert in South Africa and for various West African governments.

His first taste of military life came in 1998 when he joined the army at the age of 17 and served in the 9 Parachute Squadron RE and served tours of duty in Northern Ireland in 1999 and Macedonia in 2001.

Upon leaving the army he enlisted in the Royal Marines in 2005. He passed out of his commando course in January 2006 and won the King's Badge for best all round recruit and was subsequently posted to B Company 40 Commando.

He completed his first tour in Afghanistan in 2007.

Is Ant Middleton in a relationship?

Ant Middleton is happily married to his wife Emilie Middleton. The couple met in 2004 at the Essex bar that Emilie was working in at the time and the then 24-year-old Emilie admitted, “It was love at first sight.”

The couple went on to have five children, including sons, Oakley, 18, Gabriel, 11, and Bligh, three, and daughters Shyla, 12, and Priseis, four.

Speaking about he taught resilience in his kids, Ant told a podcast, "I was on holiday and the swimming pool was absolutely freezing. My 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter ran past and I grabbed hold of their legs.

"They knew the pool was really, really cold and my three-year-old daughter started crying. She didn’t want to go in. So I grabbed her, put her in the water and held her there."

While the other parents were left in shock, Ant insisted his daughter ended up loving the pool.

He recalled, "You should have seen some of the parents’ faces. As soon as they saw my daughter crying, they were like, "Surely he is going to let her go?"

"But I grab her and put her in the water. She kicks off and goes mad and then all of a sudden she calms down and jumps on her brother’s back. I then slipped off out the pool and they were playing in there for hours."

Ant reckons his style of parenting will prevent his children from being 'terrified' of the world, saying other parents are not teaching their children to be resilient.

He said, "That’s just a prime example of how people are now not teaching mental resilience or any type of resilience to their children."

Ant Middleton's new book Mission: Total Resilience is available to pre-order on Amazon £4.99 (rrp £9.99)