Kate Middleton spoke to TV stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly at an addiction campaign event in London today.

The Duchess of Cambridge, who is patron of the Forward Trust charity, is launching the Taking Action on Addiction campaign at the Bafta headquarters in London.

Joined by TV duo Ant and Dec, Kate discussed Ant’s former addiction issues after saying in a speech that the pandemic has had a “devastating impact” on addiction rates.

Speaking to the Duchess, Ant said: “I found that myself. By the time I asked for help, it was bad, but as soon as you opened up to people, problems have got to disappear.

“It gets better and help is there.”

Ant was addicted to painkillers for two years, following a knee operation in 2015.

He crashed his car in 2018 while more than twice the alcohol limit and entered rehab, forcing him to miss that year’s I’m A Celebrity show.

Dec said: “You get so many people who say ‘Things didn’t change until I hit rock bottom’.

“If we can stop people hitting rock bottom, wherever that is, and get help much earlier, it will make such a difference.”

In her speech, Kate said: Addiction is not a choice. No-one chooses to become an addict. But it can happen to any one of us. None of us are immune.

“Yet it’s all too rarely discussed as a serious mental health condition. And seldom do we take the time to uncover and fully understand its fundamental root causes.”