Anton Du Beke

**Anthony Paul Beke** (born July 20, 1966; known professionally as Anton Du Beke) is a British professional ballroom dancer, author and television presenter.

## Early Life

Du Beke was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, to a Hungarian father, Antal Xavier Beke (1939–2001), and a Spanish mother, Ascensión "Conchita" Lema. He has two younger siblings, brother Stephen and his sister Veronica. He attended Wildernesse School in Sevenoaks. Du Beke has discussed his father's problems with alcoholism and revealed that he was stabbed by his father in the leg and stomach during a Boxing Day altercation at their home in Kent.

Du Beke began dancing at 14, when he discovered his local dance school, the Holton School of Dancing in Sevenoaks. He had three partners during these formative years before the Holton School of Dancing closed in 1987. Du Beke left school at 16 to follow an amateur dancing career. At 17, he decided to specialise in ballroom. While he danced during the evenings and at weekends, he had a day job as a salesman in "The Bed Post" in Petts Wood, South London.

## Career

Du Beke's regular professional partner is Erin Boag. They met in 1997, and won the 1998 and 1999 New Zealand Championships. They turned professional in 2002, competing mainly in the United Kingdom. Their best result on the competition circuit was in November 2003 when they won the IDTA Classic in Brighton.

### Strictly Come Dancing

Du Beke has appeared in every series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing since its inception. In the first series, he danced with singer Lesley Garrett and finished in third place. For the second series, he partnered presenter Esther Rantzen; they were eliminated in the third week. He danced with actress Patsy Palmer for the third series and finished in fifth place. In the fourth series, he danced with actress and impressionist Jan Ravens but was eliminated in week five of the competition. His partner for the fifth series was TV presenter Kate Garraway; the couple were voted out in week seven. His partner for the sixth series was actress Gillian Taylforth; the couple were voted out in week two. In series seven, he was partnered with Laila Rouass. Together, they made it to week twelve.

In series eight, he partnered Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe. Despite Widdecombe's poor dancing ability, they made it through to the quarter final. For its ninth series, Nancy Dell'Olio was Anton's partner, the couple were eliminated in week five. His partner for the tenth series was model and actress Jerry Hall. They were eliminated in week three. His partner for series eleven was actress Fiona Fullerton. They were eliminated in week eight in Blackpool. For the show's twelfth series, his partner was tennis coach Judy Murray. They were also eliminated in week eight in Blackpool. For series thirteen, Du Beke was partnered with newscaster and presenter Katie Derham they made it to Du Beke's first final in all thirteen series and were eliminated in fourth place.

In series fourteen, Du Beke was partnered with actress Lesley Joseph. They were eliminated in week five. In series fifteen in 2017, Du Beke was paired with television presenter Ruth Langsford. In 2018 Anton was partnered with Fashion Journalist Susannah Constantine. They finished last (the first time Du Beke had ever done this) with an average of 12.00 (Du Beke's lowest). For the 17th series, he was partnered with Emma Barton. In Week nine, Du Beke received his first 10s in all seventeen series for their American Smooth; the couple received a total of fifteen 10s during the series. They finished joint runners-up alongside Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden, but lost out to Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse. In 2020 Du Beke was partnered with former home secretary Jacqui Smith. They were eliminated in week two (first), Du Beke's second time finishing last.

Du Beke has also appeared in a number of Children in Need and Christmas Specials of Strictly Come Dancing. In 2008 he won the Children in Need 2008 special, dancing an American Smooth with Tess Daly. He danced once again with Anne Widdecombe in the 2012 Children in Need special but lost out to Russell Grant and Flavia Cacace. He did however go on to win the Children in Need 2014 special where he and fellow dancer Natalie Lowe taught a group of children how to dance. Du Beke has also reprised his partnerships with Lesley Garret and Ann Widdecombe for the 2004 and 2018 Christmas specials, respectively. He has also danced with Ronni Ancona, Su Pollard, Katy Brand and Denise Lewis in the respective 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016 Christmas specials. In 2015 Du Beke served as a judge on The People's Strictly, a one off version of the show where non-celebrities compete for the charity Comic Relief. In 2020, he reprised his role as a judge for weeks four and five to fill in for Motsi Mabuse who needed to quarantine after travelling to Germany. On 24 June 2021, it was announced that Du Beke would become a permanent judge on Strictly Come Dancing from series nineteen, starting in September 2021, replacing Bruno Tonioli.

### Other Television Appearances

Du Beke's first TV appearance was as a backing dancer in Madonna's video Material Girl.

In March 2007 Du Beke was a contestant on the BBC Two series The Underdog Show and was paired with homeless dog Ginger. They were eliminated in week three of the competition.

Du Beke has presented the BBC cookery show Step Up to the Plate. He served as a captain and from series 2 was the host on the UK version of Hole in the Wall, which premiered on 20 September 2008 on BBC One. On December 24, 2009, he appeared in Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, in a sketch called "Beyond The Marigolds", where he spoofed his Strictly Come Dancing role by being paired with fictional soap star "Bo Beaumont" (played by Julie Walters). Beaumont quit the show when unable to master Du Beke's warm up steps.

During the week of 5 to 9th May 2014, Du Beke appeared on Channel 4 game show Draw It!.

On Christmas Day 2019, Du Beke surprised Craig Revel Horwood as a guest in the Christmas Midnight Gameshow in Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show.

On October 27, 2023, Du Beke guest presented Steph's Packed Lunch on Channel 4.

## Personal Life

He dated television presenter Caroline Feraday from 2007 to 2008.

Du Beke lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife Hannah Summers. In November 2016 the couple announced they were expecting twins, due in spring 2017. On March 30, 2017, his son George and daughter Henrietta were born, announced with an Instagram post.

### Controversy

In 2009, Du Beke said that his dance partner Laila Rouass "looked like a paki" after she had arrived at rehearsal with a spray tan. Du Beke denied being racist and said that the comment was made "in jest".

## Bibliography

Du Beke has released a book called Anton's Dance Class which was serialised in the Mail on Sunday. Du Beke also wrote an A–Z of ballroom dancing, B is for Ballroom.
In October 2018, Du Beke released his debut novel One Enchanted Evening. Du Beke has now released five novels which have all been set around the Buckingham Hotel and characters Raymond and Nancy:

* One Enchanted Evening (2018)
* Moonlight over Mayfair (2019)
* A Christmas to Remember (2020)
* We'll Meet Again (2021)
* The Ballroom Blitz (2022)
* The Paris Affair (2023)