Anton: I will never stop doing Strictly
STRICTLY stalwart Anton du Beke will never give up on going for Glitterball glory... even if the BBC tries to make him hang up his dancing shoes.
He last night embarked on a new stage of his quest to win after being paired with former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
But he’s adamant he’ll keep on waltzing even if the Beeb try to stop him!
“Will they retire me? he says. y “No, they’ll have to do a Sue Barker and just leave me out! I never want to stop p doing it because I love the show. It’s my favourite thing of the year. I will still turn up at the Strictly studio even if I am not working on the show any more!”
As the only professional dancer from the e original line-up, Anton has seen huge changes over the years but none more so than this year’s pandemicaffected series.
A fan favourite since the show started in 2004, Anton, 54, feeds off his rapport with the live audience and believes their reaction to his banter with the judges and the comedy performances of some of his less gifted dance partners – such as Judy Murray and Ann Widdecombe – has played an integral part in his success.
“My numbers are theatrical and designed for the audience really, so I will miss the crowd,” he admits.
“There is nothing like a bit of change and when you are forced into it, sometimes you go, ‘I don’t know why we didn’t do this before’.
“Strictly has got some new, fabulous ideas. It sounds like a revolution but it’s not really; it’s only an evolution. The product at the end will make the experience of watching it more enjoyable because it’s going to look absolutely amazing.”
Another dramatic change will be potentially living apart from his wife Hannah Summers, and his young twins George and Henrietta, aged three-and-a-half, for the duration of the series.
His new partner Jacqui was revealed in the launch show last night when celebrity contestants were paired with the professional dancers.
He says: “I will have to be in a bubble with my partner. I am still a massive part of my children’s lives as they are so young, and it will be difficult, as they don’t really understand.
“They do understand you go to work but if you are not there in the morning, it’s not the easiest thing for them to comprehend. But it is what it is, it’s all dictated by the Government’s guidelines and the only way we can make the show. It would be difficult for anybody separated from their family and I will be the same.”
He admits it was tough when he was in quarantine in a hotel for a month, away from his family, with the show’s other professi professional dancers so they could film the Strictly group dan dances – particularly as his yo youngsters had just started a at nursery school, and he was not there for their early weeks.
He admits: “We pros bubbled together and it was really, really difficult t to be away from the babies. It was so hard. We Fac Facetimed constantly. But yo you have to be OK with it an and the group dances do loo look amazing.
“For me, personally, it’s wonderful being back on the show with the other pros, doing what we love to do and I think the whole country is delighted it’s back.
“Strictly is part of the fabric of British life for a lot of people and, for some, it’s been around longer than they have. It’s a major thing in people’s lives.
“This year it’s a classic Strictly line-up, some people you know, others are just normal Joes you don’t know, and the next minute, you are cheering for them after the one show or two, and wanting them to win!
“It’s really exciting. It’s just like Bake Off – as soon as you see the first show, you are already cheering for people. It’s brilliant. We need Strictly. As soon as you hear Craig calling someone a dis-as-ter, and me coming down the stairs in a top hat and cane, I’m sure everyone watching will think, ‘Ah, brilliant!’.”
Anton has twice been within touching distance of the coveted Glitterball trophy. He reached the final in 2015 with TV presenter Katie Derham and last year with Eastenders’ Emma Barton, receiving his first 10s in 17 years on the show in Blackpool Week for their American Smooth, after which he quipped, “This is
what Kevin Clifton feels like.” “That was
probably my favourite moments of being on Strictly,” he recalls smiling. “Emma will be a hard act to follow, she was just incredible.” Work has always been important to Anton and while loving spending quality time in isolation with his family in their Buckinghamshire home during lockdown, he struggled with not being productive. He confesses that he was also worried about money with his dance commitments on hold.
“We have a bit more normality now but at the time, the anxiety about money was heightened because no one was working. From that perspective, it was stressful and difficult. But from the perspective of our home life, it was wonderful.”
He admits that his priorities have changed since he became a husband and father. He married marketing executive Hannah, 44, in 2017, the same year she had their twins by IVF.
The couple have been together for eight years. He says: “She is a wonderful combination of being very beautiful, very clever and very funny. She’s my favourite person and I had the great, good fortune to marry her.”
In 2018, Anton penned best-selling romantic novel One Enchanted Evening in which he told the stories of dancer Raymond de Guise, and the staff – and staff dancers – of the Buckingham Hotel in 1930s London. It was followed by last year’s Moonlight over Mayfair. The third instalment, A Christmas to Remember, arrives later this month.
He says: “Yes, Raymond’s back. I am thrilled with this book. I love working on it, and talking about it, developing the characters and the journey on which my characters go on.
“There is an engagement at the beginning of this book and at the end, there is a Christmas wedding. In between you have all the shenanigans in the hotel.
“So it’s very exciting. I always wanted to write a book. As Covid-19 has shown us, you never know what is around the corner, so if you want to do something, do it.
“This disease has been a shock to us all. It’s been life affecting. No one expected anything like this. So if you have a dream or anything you want to achieve, then just do it. It’s an important life lesson.”
A Christmas To Remember, by Anton du Beke, is out October 29 in hardback, ebook and audio