STRICTLY veteran Anton Du Beke loves his new role as a full-time judge on the show – it’s the first time he’s lasted a whole series without being voted out.
In the 18 years that he BBC1 dance favorite – as a pro dancer until last year – Anton never even made it to the last two entrants, let alone win the competition.
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And although the coveted glitter ball still out of his reach, the 56-year-old takes comfort in the fact that no one can give him the boot these days.
He said: “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but being voted out, I just hated it. It’s the worst in the world. And it never got better as I got older.
“The little thing I miss is not being in the studio and trying to put together a song, there’s no such thing. But standing there and judging is just as great.
“I did say that it is much easier on the knees, but the fact that I now judge also means that I can always stay until the final.”
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Since joining Strictly in the very first series in 2004when it was hosted by his idol Bruce ForsythAnton always had dance partners of varying ability.
He reached the semi-finals of the debut series with opera singer Lesley Garrett, almost reached the final three in 2015 with newsreader Katie Derham and was a runner-up with EastEnders actress Emma Barton in 2019.
Anton also got his lowest score – a terrible 12 – with style guru Susannah Constantine in 2018 and socialite and lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio in 2011.
Still, he always told them they’d done it right, even if he knew it might be nonsense.
Going to hell
Anton said at the Henley Literary Festival in Oxfordshire: “My partner looked at me and said, ‘I think we’re in trouble’. I would look at her and say, ‘No, you were great’.
“They’d say, ‘Do you really think that?’
“I would say, ‘Oh yes!’ . . . I’m going to hell.”
He hit rock bottom – or should that be career high – when he teamed up with politician Ann Widecombe in 2010.
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Together they created a moment in Strictly history when he swung her around by one of her ankles and one of her wrists as she spun like a comatose sea lion.
Anton said: “I didn’t like them all that much . . . No, I’m just kidding. I like them all. I loved them all.
“I’ve spent some time with some incredible women. . . even Ann.
I say, “Even Ann.” She was a pioneer, the first to fly into the set.
Everyone is flown in from above the stage these days.”
Anton is referring to the routine where she dove on the dance floor in a harness before delivering a tango with him.
It was an impressive start but judgement Craig Revel Horwood summed it up best in hindsight by saying: “When you landed on the ground . . . that’s when the problems started.”
The armor was just one of several distractions that Ann and Anton used to hide the fact that she had two left feet — others include icebergs for a Titanic-themed dance and a Dangerous Liaisons-style costume drama.
Anton laughs: “Sometimes you just have a partner who can’t really dance and you try to get away with it as best you can.
“The worse they are, the more outrageous you can be. They will be terribly marked anyway. I mean, what are you going to get, a one or two?
“I say throw them in. I love 5ft of smoke and you can almost see their eyebrows.
“Strictly Come Dancing, it’s not really dancing as such. You have a celebrity and you are trying to get her through.”
That’s exactly what Anton did with Ann. Despite week after week of abysmal scores, viewers couldn’t get enough of their hilarious routines.
So much so that they took week ten off the competition, beating out movie siren Patsy Kensit and Destiny’s Child singer among others. Michelle Williams.
Anton added: “Oh man. In my time I’ve danced with some good girls and with less good ones. I would have liked a turn with [former judge] Darcey Bussel. I’d say, ‘Come on Darce, get your leg up.’”
It’s fair to say Anton earned his stripes, so when Covid struck and the Italian eccentric judge Bruno Toniolicouldn’t do his stints on the show anymore, he filled in.
It wasn’t until this year that he got the job full-time alongside longtime friend Craig, Shirley Ballas and Move Mabuse.
But he admits it’s taxing to be a judge who also has to give a comedic performance — almost as much as the pros and celebrities who hit the dance floor every week.
Anton said: “It’s exhausting. I have to say, I am. But I love this. I am so grateful to see people. I like people like Kenneth Williams and Peter Ustinov, the storytellers who can just chat.
“I’ve been feeling, ‘Maybe I should be more serious.’ I listen to some artists, and they’re very serious and I’m like, ‘Great. Maybe I should have gone down that road.’
“But I’d find a joke and screw it up. I can not help it.”
Now he loves sitting on the other side of the judge’s desk while being entertained watching the pros try to get decent routines out of the celebrities.
Matt’s pants were great. They were one size too small. Apparently we had a woman in the front row with a nut allergy. We had to get her out!
His current favorite is Nadiya Bychkova’s disco song with Matt Goss from last weekend, in which the Bros singer imitated John Travolta in a white vest and TERRIBLY tight trousers.
Anton said: “They were great. They were one size too small.
“I think they were inspired by Bruno Tonioli and they were white? Sting the crows.
“Apparently we had a woman up front with a nut allergy. We had to get her out. It was a disaster.”
Now he’s looking at new opportunities but thinks he won’t find them in the world of TV cooking after appearing on ITV’s Cooking with the stars recently.
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Anton said: “I was worthless. I wasn’t cooking much when I had this chicken dish that turned pink.
“I cooked pink chicken and apparently that’s bad, who knows?
“One of the chefs kept saying to me, while I was singing, I wasn’t messing around, but I was singing and dancing.
“He says, ‘All that singing and dancing leave that to the other show. You have to focus.’
“I thought to myself, ‘That’s funny, because that’s how I focus.’ So the criticism was unjustified.”
Anton has found a different direction for his writing career, which he juggles with jury duties on Strictly. He just released a new romantic novel called We’ll Meet Again.
He said: “I never felt there was a way to write, but there is now an opportunity to do something.
“My rule is: make it good and brilliant. Don’t allow people to go, ‘Oh, you should just stay with the dancing old son’, ’cause I’d be mortified.
“I want people to go, ‘Oh, he’s an author.’
My rule is: make it good and brilliant. Don’t let people go ‘Oh you just gotta hold on to the dancing old son’ ’cause I’d be mortified
“It means the world to me and I love doing the books. It’s really serious business for me and I don’t want people to think I’m being lighthearted about it because I like to do it.”
Mixing his old and new love, Anton insists that he fill the pages with many of the experiences he has gained over his long career.
He said, “All the people I’ve met have entered my books with ballroom dancing, hotels, the upper and lower floors of stately homes.
“I’m a people watcher and I like to know things.”
The participants and crew on Strictly would do well to remember that.
- Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday on BBC1 at 6.30pm