STAR REVEALS HIS SPECIAL BOND WITH TV
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Anton du Beke loved a chinwag with his telly pal, lookalike and father figure Sir Bruce Forsyth.
The pair would stand side by side and throw their heads back to compare their equally impressive jaw lines.
And it really was a case of nice to see two... to see two, nice!
Anton talks about their special bond on the day BBC1 airs a tribute to Sir Bruce, who died last August, aged 89.
Dancer Anton, who features in tonight’s celebrity-packed tribute, says: “Brucie and I both had a chin on us and we had this thing from the beginning of the first Strictly series where he had a few gags.
“We would stand face-to-face, tip our head back and he would say: ‘Oh look it’s Tower Bridge’.
“Then there were the ‘love child’ gags and I would always run with it and say: ‘My mum says you only popped out for a pint of milk and 29 years later you haven’t come back!’
“It was wonderful to feel that you were having a gag with Brucie.
“We also took the mick out of our resemblance by performing Me and My Shadow on the sixth series of Strictly.
Memories
“We immediately struck up this friendship and in many ways he became like a dad to me. I wasn’t so close to my own dad (he was a violent alcoholic) and he died before I took part in Strictly.”
Anton and dance partner Erin Boag are currently on tour with his show From Broadway to Hollywood. That meant he was unable to attend the Brucie tribute show at the London Palladium – but pre-recorded his memories.
Forsyth fans will love the show, which features song, dance and comedy – while stars said they felt their old pal’s presence.
Impersonator Jon Culshaw, 49, reveals: “There was very much the sense of Brucie there, you couldn’t help but think he would have loved this.
“In part of the scene there was a silhouette of Bruce doing his famous ‘thinker’ pose. You felt that Brucie was very much there.”
And Jon says his good friend Bruce always “loved being impersonated” and “did find it flattering”.
Anton’s clip was filmed at Wentworth Club, down the road from Bruce’s home and where the pair often played golf. The