Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have secured a High Court order requiring an art dealer to disclose information about transactions involving their art collection, which includes works by Banksy. Judge Iain Pester ruled on Wednesday that the TV presenters have a “good arguable case” that a consultant made “secret and unauthorised” profits from buying and selling their art.
The pair, best known for hosting Britain’s Got Talent and I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, filed the claim on Tuesday. They asked the court to compel dealer Andrew Lilley and his firm Lilley Fine Art to provide details of transactions with the unnamed consultant. The presenters did not accuse Lilley of wrongdoing, but said he was “mixed up” in the matter and likely holds relevant information.
At the hearing, the duo’s lawyer, Harry Martin, told the court that the consultant had received £550,000 from the presenters for a Banksy work depicting Kate Moss as Marilyn Monroe, but only £300,000 reached the seller. Martin said the consultant had not provided a bank statement accounting for the missing £250,000. The relationship between the presenters and the consultant broke down in September 2021.
Martin added that the presenters believe the consultant received “secret commissions and made secret and unauthorised profits” from dealings on their behalf. Lilley was involved in at least one purchase and 22 sales for the pair, but “full accounting has not happened”. Lilley previously refused to disclose information due to confidentiality, but said he would comply with a court order.
Lilley told BBC News he had been “caught up in this mess” which had “nothing to do with me”. He said he purchased art at fair market value and was unaware of any background issues. The judge emphasised he was not finding the consultant liable or that they had done anything wrong.
