Strictly apart – Du Beke worries about family under show plans

STRICTLY COME Dancing’s Anton Du Beke has said it would be “difficult” to quarantine away from his family for the sake of the show.

The professional dancer told Hello! magazine that plans to film the programme amid the coronavirus pandemic could see contestants spend up to a month in a hotel together away from their relatives.

He said that it would be difficult to be away from his wife and children.

“Potentially, we will end up in a hotel for a couple of weeks or a month,” Du Beke, inset, said.

“That’s what has been spoken about and has been provisionally pencilled in.

“Everything else is contingencies but we’re waiting for instructions and the situation is massively fluid at the moment so we will see what happens.”

The dancer said he has been “absolutely loving every second” of spending time with his wife Hannah and children Henrietta and George during the lockdown. He added: “It will be lovely to be with my Strictly family – they are terrific and I love them all – but without Hannah and the children it will be difficult, especially after having all this time together.

“I’m hoping we’re not going to have to do it but we will wait and see.”

Earlier this month, Du Beke’s son had to be rushed to hospital for an operation.

He told Hello! that doctors had said to him that his son needed to go straight to hospital, where he stayed for two nights, after he developed an abscess on his leg.

“Hannah was there the first day and night, then I took over,” he said.

“The general anaesthetic part was scary but George was amazing and so calm.

“The doctors thought he was an absolute superstar. They are very happy with his recovery.”

Meanwhile, Gregg Wallace has said that spending time with his family during the lockdown has been a “wonderful experience”.

The MasterChef judge has not been working since the measures were introduced.

He said that he does not think he will get this opportunity to spend so much time with his family again.

“Personally, I’ve had the time of my life,” he said.