Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have been granted a High Court order to obtain information from an art dealer as part of their claim that a consultant made “secret and unauthorised profits” while acting for them in art transactions.
The TV presenters allege the consultant, who has not been publicly identified, made “secret commissions” while acting as their agent in the purchase, sale and lending of artworks, including pieces by Banksy, up to 2021.
At a hearing in the UK on Tuesday, their lawyers asked the court to order art dealer Andrew Lilley and his company Lilley Fine Art to disclose information about their dealings with the consultant.
The presenters do not allege wrongdoing by Mr Lilley or his company, but argue they may hold information needed to trace the consultant’s alleged profits.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Judge Iain Pester said there was a “good arguable case that a form of legally recognised wrong has been committed” and granted the disclosure order.
He stressed he was not making any finding that the consultant has liability to the presenters.
The court heard that McPartlin and Donnelly had “artwork ownership agreements” with the consultant, which included the consultant acting as agent for buying, selling, loaning, storing and insuring artworks, and receiving up to 10% commission on sales.
Their relationship later “broke down,” and the agreements ended in September 2021.
The claim includes a Banksy work titled Kate As Marilyn, which depicts Kate Moss in the style of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portrait.
The presenters’ lawyer said they paid £550,000 (€631k) to the consultant for the work, with £300,000 (€345k) paid to a third party, but that the consultant has not produced a bank statement accounting for the remaining £250,000 (€287k).
Source: Press Association