Actor and singer Darren Day was banned from driving for 18 months today after he finally admitted to being drunk behind the wheel.

The 40-year-old was almost twice the drink-drive limit when he was pulled over by police in Cardiff city centre in the early hours of June 18, after a late-night drinking session while on tour.

He had been due to stand trial at Cardiff Magistrates' Court today after denying the charge at a previous hearing.

But he arrived at court this morning with his wife Stephanie, without legal representation and changed his plea to guilty.

Darren Day and wife Stephanie at Cardiff Magistrates Courthouse today. The singer was banned from driving after pleading guilty to a drink-drive charge

Barnsley born Day, was wearing a dark-pinstriped suit and a new cropped hairstyle.

He was accompanied in court by his wife Stephanie Dooley - the couple have a daughter Madison, one, and Stephanie has a son Jordan, seven, by a previous relationship.

After the hearing, Day said: 'I don't want to talk about it. I'm upset and have nothing more to say.'

Day, 40, appealed to the court to keep his licence - so he can visit his son from former lover Hear'Say singer Suzanne Shaw who lives four hours away.

But magistrates banned him for 18 months after he was nearly twice the drink-drive limit - and three times failed to give a breath test.  

Day was stopped by police in his black Mercedes driving at nearly double the legal limit at 2am through a red light.

Darren Day was starring in the show Hello Dolly when he was stopped by police and failed a breathalyser test

He three times failed to give a breathalyser at the roadside - and was held in police cells.

Day at first denied drink-driving but yesterday changed his plea to admit the offence.

The singer, who wed for the first time last year,  told the court he was drinking because he was missing his family while on tour in Cardiff with musical Hello Dolly!.

Day said: 'I'm a husband and I'm a father and I've never done anything like this before.

'I was away on tour and missing my family that night. I know you must hear this a lot but I hardly ever drink.

'I have never got behind the wheel of a car when I've had too much alcohol. My only intention was to move my car off a yellow line.

'I realise I was endangering people's lives and I'm truly sorry for that.' 

Day decided to represent himself in court after dismissing solicitors who had earlier advised him to plead not guilty.

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Day with his ex-love Suzanne Shaw. They have a son Corey, 3, together

He pleaded with magistrates in Cardiff not to ban him from driving because it would hit his ability to work and to see his children - after splitting with their mothers.  

Day said: 'I have three children and my wife to support. One child lives four hours from where I live and to have no car would make it difficult for me to pick him up on weekends. I can only throw myself on the mercy of the court.'   

Day has a son Corey Mackenzie, three, with former Hear'Say singer Suzanne who lives in the London area - and the court heard Day has weekend access.  

But district judge Geraint Watkins ruled out any leniency - and banned the star from driving for 18 months and ordered him to pay a £700 fine with £115 costs.

Day had been on stage in the musical Hello, Dolly! at Cardiff's New Theatre just hours earlier before being stopped in June.

Prosecutor David Roberts said: 'At 1.50am two officers on routine patrol say they observed Mr Day's car travelling at speed in the opposite direction while they stopped at a junction.

'They turned their police car round as Mr Day drove though a red light.

'They operated their blue light to bring his vehicle to a halt and they followed him. They indicated him to stop which he did.

'He was unable to provide a breath sample at the roadside and they tried three times.  

'But he sucked rather than blowed and was arrested. He later provided a positive sample at the police station.'

The court heard Day had 65 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Mr Roberts said Day was released after four hours in custody after passing a sobriety test. The court heard he had no previous convictions.   

The I'm A Celebrity .. Get Me Out of Here star was said to be earning a £1 million a year at the height of his fame.

Day was serially branded a love rat after dumping girlfriends like actresses Anna Friel, Tracy Shaw and Isla Fisher, Welsh dancer Adele Vellacott and, most famously, Suzanne Shaw, the mother of his son Corey.