Former SAS: Who Dares Wins head Ant Middleton is fighting to stay afloat as he racks up a huge tax bill.
Middleton, who used to work as part of the special forces, first shot to fame when he hosted the Channel 4 action show, which first aired in 2015. Since then, the show has grown to a huge audience, but in 2021 Channel 4 decided to part ways with Ant, over questions raised over his “personal conduct”.
Following his dismissal from the show after six years in the job, Ant has been scrambling to make ends meet. Now, as he continues to struggle, Ant is now closing all his UK businesses after one went bust – leaving Middleton with a whopping £1.2m debt to the taxman.
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The company – Sway and Starting Ltd – was originally called Middleton Global when it was first set up. However, now the business has gone into liquidation by its various creditors, despite the fact that it took in a huge £4.5m in income in 2021.
(Image: Channel 4)
Of the £1.2m of unpaid tax the business had, just £3,000 was owed to other creditors, whilst the remaining £1,199,000 is owed to HMRC. But before the company went insolvent, Ant had taken out a director’s loan of almost £2.7m – although the documentation for the loan stipulated how it was “uncertain” how it was going to be repaid.
Creditors have written to Ant, who is the director of the company, asking for more clarification on how the loan will be paid back. In files seen by the Mirror, the creditors said: “If a satisfactory settlement is not able to be reached, it will be necessary for me to petition for the director’s bankruptcy.”
(Image: ITV)
As well as this, accountants are rushing to see whether any breaches of the Company Directors Disqualification Act have taken place. They have also sent off a report to the Department of Business and Trade to look into the issue themselves.
Speaking amid rumours of being insolvent in January, a spokesperson for Ant said: “Due to the impact of lockdowns on Ant’s work and associated adverse effects on the company, unfortunately Middleton Global Limited has had to be placed into voluntary liquidation. Ant has an extremely busy year ahead and is focused on his TV work, brand deals, books and events”
(Image: Getty Images)
Some of Ant’s publicists and agents have already started to back out from their deals with the star. Many of the agencies he worked with declared on Wednesday (February 21) saying they no longer represent the hardman.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
