12:00 pm, April 1, 2021
Former Wheeler Dealers mechanic Edd China is launching a new YouTube series called Workshop Diaries as he looks to branch out on his own.
The former partner of Used Car Awards host and current Wheeler Dealer front man Mike Brewer will work on a variety of vehicles, just as he did on the popular TV show.
China left the show to ‘pursue other interests’ and was replaced by Ant Anstead in 2017.
Anstead has now left the show too and Brewer has partnered with Mark Priestley as the show’s new mechanic.
In a trailer for China’s show, that has been uploaded to his YouTube channel, he says he will be taking the viewer along as he learns new skills and interviews interesting people.
Part of the series will see China visit people who have project cars at home and are struggling to complete them, helping viewers overcome stumbling blocks with their own car builds.
Other features include visiting experts to showcase unique skills, demonstrating classic and future technology, and test driving quirky vehicles.
In a special interview with Car Dealer Live last year, Mike Brewer gave his full account of why Edd China left Wheeler Dealers.
Brewer told Car Dealer, in a clip you can watch above: ”Me and Edd were bouncing along very happy, he was Godfather to my child, we were best friends.
‘We were bouncing along quite happy, but during the final year Edd was there he just became more difficult he became more angry with the way the show was being produced, and I could see that.
‘I had my frustrations too and they manifested themselves in different ways, but Edd’s frustration were taken out on people and crew and he put himself into a position where it became untenable really.
‘For Edd, what he wanted, more of less, was to work less. Unfortunately Wheeler Dealer’s is an animal, you really need to be devoted to it and work six days a week to it and work 17 hour days.
‘Don’t get me wrong Edd did that and he worked fantastically and he’s an amazing talent – a brilliant mechanic – but he just become so disenchanted with the whole notion of how we made the show.’
Brewer says the fact Wheeler Dealers was being filmed in America at the time also meant there were other distractions for China.
Brewer added: ‘When we were in California where we made the show and you have the beach and the sunshine outside, I get the need to want to spend more time doing that and spend more time out there than being in the workshop, which is a box you’re in for 12 hours a day.
‘So for Edd he just got to a stage where he simply had enough.
‘There was no arguing, we never shouted, we never rowed, he wasn’t sacked, he wasn’t pushed, he wasn’t tripped, he wasn’t cheated – none of that stuff.
‘All you read online is absolute crap, he simply decided one day, enough was enough, it wasn’t for him and he thought, and a lot of people do, he thought he was bigger than the show and he could leave and the show would die when he left, and that broke our hearts.’
Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead joined forces after Edd China left
Edd China posted a video after leaving the show giving his side of the story.
In it, he said: ‘Wheeler Dealers is a great car show. Making Wheeler Dealers though is no easy task and requires a massive effort.
‘Wheeler Dealers has been an enormous part of my life since 2002, a real roller coaster of demanding challenges and triumphant moments.
‘Right now though, I just feel relieved and exhilarated with freedom and I can’t wait to get cracking on the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.’
For his new YouTube show, although China is better known for working on classic vehicles, the presenter says that he has gained an interest in electric vehicle technology since leaving Wheeler Dealers, so this will feature too.
Converting classic cars to electric is becoming a booming business, so it’s likely this will play a big part in China’s episodes.
The first episode goes live on Friday, April 2, with weekly episodes expected after that.
Additional reporting: PA Media
The full Car Dealer Live with Mike Brewer, which the above clip was taken from, can be seen below.
