Having started life as a small but enthusiastic production in 2003, Wheeler Dealers is now a totally different animal. 13 seasons later, the British show is broadcast in roughly 220 territories around the world, which is pretty good if you bear in mind that the whole crew consisted of seven people back in 2003.
A big part of the show’s success is, naturally, the chemistry between Edd China and Mike Brewer. There’s a certain something about those two that makes the series worthwhile, but then again, even good things have their way of coming to an end. And the end, on this occasion, consists of Edd leaving Wheeler Dealers over a strange demand coming from the Velocity network.
I’ll leave the 6 ft. 7 in. mechanic to explain what’s what: “Unfortunately, on Velocity’s first attempt at producing the show they found Wheeler Dealers ‘too difficult to make, at least in its current format.’ In particular, the detailed and in-depth coverage of my fixes in the workshop.” Don’t know about you, but Velocity made the wrong call with this decision. And Edd is entitled to call it quits if he’s not happy about how his work is portrayed on the show.
I’ll give Velocity that less workshop footage saves production time, as well as money, but having to make such a huge compromise is a big no-no for the quality of Wheeler Dealers. And so, we lost a lovable mechanic due to some bean counters’ lack of good sense. Ant Anstead will replace China for the fourteenth season of Wheeler Dealers, which is slated to go official in the fourth quarter of 2017 on Velocity in the U.S. and Discovery in the UK.
“Being the new boy is never easy, so please give Ant your support, I wish him the very best of luck,” declared Edd. “As for me, I am already working on some great new projects which will expand my world in new directions and, as I will have a bit of time on my hands, I’ll even start to put some things up on my YouTube channel, so keep an eye out for that,” he added.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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