A judge has ruled that Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have a “good arguable case” after claiming that a consultant made “secret and unauthorised” profit when buying and selling their art – including pieces by Banksy.
The TV presenters, best known for fronting Britain’s Got Talent and I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, filed the claim in the High Court on Tuesday (3 March).
The hosting duo asked for the High Court to order a separate art dealer – Andrew Lilley and his firm Lilley Fine Art – to disclose information about their transactions with the unnamed consultant.
They did not accuse Lilley and his firm of any wrongdoing, instead saying that they were “mixed up“ in it and are “likely” to “hold information that will help the applicants uncover the wrongdoing”.
On Wednesday (4 March), Judge Iain Pester made the order, saying that there was a “good arguable case that a form of legally recognised wrong has been committed”.
He added that he was “not making any finding that [the consultant] has any liability” to the presenter or that they had “done anything wrong”.
At the hearing on Tuesday, McPartlin and Donnelly’s lawyer, Harry Martin, told the court that the presenter paid £550,000 to the consultant Banksy’s work in which Kate Moss is depicted as Marilyn Monroe in Andy Warhol style. However, only £300,000 was received by the seller.
He added that the consultant “has not produced a bank statement accounting for the balance of £250,000”.
He also explained that the TV hosts had “artwork ownership agreements” with the consultant, who acted as an agent for the pair when buying, selling, loaning, storing and insuring works of art – receiving a 10 percent commission on the sale of any works.
However, the relationship “broke down” and the agreements ended in September 2021.
Martin added that McPartlin and Donnelly believe the consultant and their company received “secret commissions and made secret and unauthorised profits from their dealings” on behalf of the pair.
He said that Lilley and his company were involved in “at least one purchase” by McPartlin and Donnelly and “at least 22 sales”, but that there was a “good arguable case” that “full accounting has not happened”.
“Questions remain in respect of these transactions, and there is reason to believe that there is other, as yet undiscovered, wrongdoing in respect of other transaction,” he said.
Lilley previously refused to provide information about the transactions for confidentiality reasons, but said that he would comply with a court order.
The Independent has contacted McPartlin and Donnelly, and Lilley Fine Art for comment.
Lilley told BBC News that he had been “caught up in this mess” which has “nothing to do with me”.
“I was just purchasing art on what I thought was fair and market value, no idea what was going on in the background,” he added. “This is a matter for the courts now and between A&D [Ant and Dec] and the third party [X].”
Additional reporting by Agencies.
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