The past year has been a bumpy ride for Ant Anstead.
As so many can relate to, the former Wheeler Dealers host adjusted to a new normal because of the coronavirus pandemic. And in September 2020, news broke that Ant and his wife Christina Haack (formerly Anstead) were breaking up after less than two years of marriage.
But, as Ant helps celebrate the revival of global luxury automotive brand Radford, the 41-year-old car enthusiast is proud of how far he's come.
"There's a choice that we all make," Ant exclusively shared with E! News. "You either dwell in it or you look forward and I'm a forward-facing positive person. I've got so many great things on the horizon…It's been six or seven months so I've really had a chance to reset, rethink, rebuild and now I'm so ready to find a house and start fresh."
As for how he got to such a positive state of mind, Ant credits a strong relationship with his faith. Despite being raised in a "very religious family," Ant admitted that he went the opposite way as a teenager. But in maturing and understanding who he was as a person, the TV host found himself leaning back towards God.
"In the last couple of years, I've really leaned into that particularly when things started to fall apart in my private life," he shared. "I really leaned into it and I found real solace and security—particularly in my bible study with a really cool group of guys."
Ant continued, "I've used my faith as a good way to realize I'm so incredibly blessed…[My son] Hudson is such a blessing and he's really changed my outlook on everything because ultimately, people move on and you find your happiness and I've used faith to do that quicker."
In addition to raising his one-year-old son Hudson with Christina, Ant is also the father to son Archie, 14, and daughter Amelie, 17, from his first marriage.
At the beginning of 2021, Ant said he created a vision board where he expressed his hopes to "make friends with people of substance" in the year ahead. It appears his hopes have come true.
Ant gave thanks to former Real Housewives of Orange County star Doug McLaughlin for inviting him to his bible study. "Doug is a really inspirational guy," he shared when praising the NOBLEMAN magazine founder. "He's been a great friend to me."
The father of three has also found inspiration from Human Connection Specialist Mark Groves. "He is a gifted human being," Ant gushed. "He does nothing but give. He is a guiding light. He is a source of inspiration and information…Mark is the epitome of someone with substance."
In his professional life, Ant is also teaming up with a few impressive men on a project years in the making. Ant joined car designer Mark Stubbs, FIA Formula One World Champion Jenson Button and business partner Roger Behle to help revive the Radford story into a modern lifestyle brand that celebrates auto design and performance.
And on Monday, March 22, Ant will help rename a Chandler, Ariz. track to the Radford Racing School.
"I was just bitten by the car bug as a kid and that's my happy place," Ant shared. "I'm very lucky that my passion is my job and I'm very grateful."
As Ant continues to make Orange County his home and work on other projects including a new book and TV shows, the proud dad is savoring every positive moment, especially when it involves his youngest child.
"He's been such an important influence on me because I've given myself fully to him," Ant shared when discussing his bond with Hudson. "Because I've been able to have so much time with him, Hudson and I have got this connection that you cannot replicate…The relationship between a parent and a child is so precious."