Wheeler Dealers has some new company. Today, Velocity announced longtime host Edd China is leaving the series after 13 seasons and a new cohost will be featured in season 14.
The car show follows automotive valuation expert Mike Brewer as he finds, fixes, and flips old vehicles with the help of a master mechanic.
In place of China, automotive expert Ant Anstead will co-host season 14 of Wheeler Dealers and serve as master mechanic. Velocity has not yet announced a premiere date for the new season.
Read more details below:
(New York) – Velocity today announced established automotive expert Ant Anstead is the new co-host and master mechanic on the global hit series WHEELER DEALERS. After 13 seasons, longtime co-host and lead mechanic Edd China has decided to leave the series to pursue other projects. WHEELER DEALERS will continue for a season 14 later this year with current co-host Mike Brewer who will now be joined by Anstead. Ant Anstead is the former host of the Channel 4 series “For The Love Of Cars” and previously hosted “Building Cars Live” for BBC2.
“First, the Velocity team wants to thank Edd China for the care, dedication and effort he’s given to the network, Discovery networks worldwide and WHEELER DEALERS for more than a decade. While we’ll miss his signature orange gloves, we know that anything they touch will turn to automotive gold,” said Robert Scanlon, executive vice president and general manager of Velocity and Automotive Content. “We’re committed to making WHEELER DEALERS the best automotive series on TV, and feel Ant brings the in-depth knowledge our viewers crave and a unique style our viewers will love. He, Mike Brewer and the production team are laser focused on delivering the best car projects and best episodes possible.”
“As the first, original format for fans interested in fixing cars, it’s fair to say most TV motoring shows trace their heritage back to WHEELER DEALERS,” said Anstead. “I grew up watching and learning from Edd and Mike, and in recent years have come to know both as close personal friends. It is with Edd’s blessing that I join the team for this new and exciting challenge. I hope he and viewers enjoy what I bring to the show and recognize that for me it’s always been about the love of cars.”
Ant Anstead is best known for his day job as a car builder, but he is also a designer, artist, world record holder for selling vehicles for the highest price in the World at auctions, and a semi-professional soccer player. As a car nut, Anstead has been building custom-made cars since he was a kid. He has built a global reputation for building custom-made classic vehicles to individual client specifications. Anstead creates true works of art and he has built an enviable reputation supplying cars and art works to museums, private collections and enthusiasts all around the world.
Anstead was approached by Love Productions in 2013 to front the Channel 4 series “For The Love of Cars” with Philip Glenister. The series was a huge hit and returned in 2015 for a second season with a one off special in 2016. In 2015 he hosted BBC2’s pioneering live show “Building Cars Live” alongside James May and Kate Humble. In addition to WHEELER DEALERS, he hosts the new 10-part Channel 4 series “World’s Most Expensive Cars”, and is often seen hosting the live stages of some of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious car shows. Anstead also supports a number of charities alongside being an ambassador for the U.K. apprentice scheme.
For 13 seasons WHEELER DEALERS has successfully found, fixed, flipped, tested and traded roughly 135 cars on the international market. The international hit series and Velocity’s #2 franchise continues hunting down deals in America – the most exciting, most competitive car market on the planet. From the sunny beaches of southern California to the coldest edges of Maine, WHEELER DEALERS search coast-to-coast for the best vehicles to buy, restore, test and sell for a tidy profit in all new episodes. Season 14 of WHEELER DEALERS debuts on Velocity in the fourth quarter of 2017.
WHEELER DEALERS is produced for Velocity and Discovery Networks International by Discovery Studios. In the U.S., Joshua C. Berkley is executive producer for Velocity and Robert S. Scanlon is executive vice president and general manager of Velocity and Automotive Content.”
What do you think? Do you watch Wheeler Dealers? Are you sad Edd China is leaving?
i watch the show But i have never see any cars from 1961 like a 61 Chrysler Windsor why?
I just want to know if your mechanic Ant knows that when using an impact wrench that you shouldn’t use chrome sockets because they might break apart. Also he should be wearing safety glasses. Referring to the Falcon Ranchero build I just saw.
Sorry but Edd China made the show for me, I’m pretty p…ss…d off, this was my favourite show on tv. Just can’t warm to the new man. He looks more like a copper or politician
Discovery Channel what have you done? Just watched the New show and it’s totally rubbish!!!!
The reason the show was so good is because it was nitty gritty mechanics. Now it’s like a tv show for dim witted children. I’ll never ever watch the show again.
It’s so lame and I’m shocked you ruined it. Bloody shame as it was the best car show ever.
I just hope Ed comes back to our screen doing what he does best.
why mess with it enjoyed the fixes that edd did , now some of the stuff happens by magic had enough of the show set in the states bring it home , talk about selling out mr brewer . i’m out i’ll stick to the repeats
I have watched 3 episodes of the new season. I have no problem with the “New” Mechanic (per se). It just is not an improvement at all. It is NOT the same show @ all! They should have called it something else. I have stopped watching it ad will not restart watching it. So sad. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
Why change a format which not only has worked for the last 13 series but travels so well worldwide, like so many British programes made in the UK they are appreciated because of the way they are produced and the mechanical side of the programe is as important as the buying and selling at the end of the show. I, like many others have watched from the beginning, I will watch the new shows when they come but if I feel that a great British show has become Americanisd then I will vote with my finger and never watch the… Read more »
Been reading all these comments and yes I agree the show is not a show without Ed. I’m female and no nothing of cars even though I drive but watching Ed and his explanation is really helpful and useful, he shows how you can fix a car for the normal joe – I for one definitely used to comment I’d buy a second hand car off Ed at least you know its safe. Mike was the usual cockney wheeler dealer you could get anyone – even I could sell a car. Sorry but you’ve really sunk yourself on this one.… Read more »
Just watch my first of the new format . What can I say . How dumb down is it going to go . Sorry to say its now of my must watch list . Its a shame why would you f__k with a good thing . Oh thats right its now made for the US veiwers .
BIG mistake losing Edd. I’ve watched the first episodes of this year, and now you have 2 of the same personalities…no offense to Ant. I’ll check out a few more episodes, but you really lost your heat with Edd.
Without Edd, the show just is not as good-I enjoyed the segments with Edd using common sense approaches that I can do on my own car. Ant is knows his stuff, but he is just not Edd. Also, the new shows spend way too much time at off site locations like Mike “powdercoating” wheels, and there was one episode where Ant is fabricating a new exhaust system with tools that just are not readily available to most people. I really liked the older shows with cars that were affordable-the later shows tend to go with rather pricey cars