Anton Du Beke pays emotional tribute to his father-in-law and reveals he is his role model of how to be a dad after growing up in an abusive household
Anton Du Beke has emotionally revealed that his father-in-law is his role model for how to be a dad as he paid tribute to him in a candid new interview.
The 57-year-old Strictly Come Dancing judge told how his wife Hannah Summers’ father was ‘all he needed’ if looking for any guidance of how to be a good parent.
Anton appears on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories which airs on ITV1 at 9pm tonight where he opens up about his abusive childhood including being stabbed as a child in the stomach by his alcoholic father on Boxing Day.
During the interview Kate asked him what he now thinks about his own father after becoming a parent to six-year-old twins George and Henrietta.
He replied: ‘Oh I don’t think about it! I never give it a second thought about what he missed out on.’
Kind: Anton Du Beke has emotionally revealed that his father-in-law is his role model for how to be a dad as he paid tribute to him in a candid new interview
Emotional: The 57-year-old Strictly Come Dancing judge told how his wife Hannah Summers’ father (pictured) was ‘all he needed’ if looking for any guidance of how to be a good parent.
Kate then added: ‘So you’re trying to be something different from him?’ to which Anton repeated: ‘No no I’m not. I don’t give it a moments thought.’
He then sweetly added: ‘If I need a role model of how to be a great father I look at my father-in-law. What a guy, what a man, that’s all you need!
‘If I need an example of what it’s all about I just look to him.’
The cameras then panned to his father-in-law as he broke down in tears watching the interview.
Elsewhere on the show Anton‘s sister movingly revealed how their father would drunkenly abuse him for being ‘gay’ and turned against him because of his love for dancing.
Anton has spoken for the first time about how he was treated as a young boy providing further details of his troubled childhood.
Veronica, 53 appears on the show and is in the audience as Anton reveals details of the shocking attack at the hands of his father, which left him in hospital for three days.
Veronica tells the programme: ‘My dad, I don’t think he was quite so impressed with Anton dancing, he used to call him gay, he took a turn against Anton.
‘My dad’s drinking affected his mood. He was mean. He was not a nice person when he was drunk.’
Tough: Anton appears on Kate Garraway ‘s Life Stories which airs on ITV1 at 9pm tonight where he opens up about his abusive childhood including being stabbed as a child in the stomach by his alcoholic father on Boxing Day
Dynamics: During the interview Kate asked him what he now thinks about his own father after becoming a parent to six-year-old twins George and Henrietta
Overwhelmed: The cameras then panned to his father-in-law as he broke down in tears watching the interview
Heartbreaking: Elsewhere on the show Anton’s sister Veronica (pictured) movingly revealed how their father would drunkenly abuse him for being ‘gay’ and turned against him because of his love for dancing
Interview: Veronica, 53, appears on the show and is in the audience as Anton (pictured as a child) reveals details of being stabbed in the shocking attack
Talking about the impact their father’s alcoholism had on family life, she adds: ‘My dad was drinking his money down the toilet so mum worked nights in a nursing home, she was not in the house, she was not there to protect us really.’
Born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father, Du Beke discovered his flair for dancing after picking his sister Veronica up from a local studio in Sevenoaks, where the family lived on a local council estate.
She tells the programme: ‘My mum sent him to walk me home because it was getting dark and in he came.’
After leaving school without any qualifications so that he could pursue a career in dancing, Vernoica reveals that Anton’s father became even more abusive towards him.
She tells the programme: ‘My dad put him down for it (dancing), called him gay for doing it but that would have the effect on him (Anton) to make him wanna be the best. He’s not Tony Bek who grew up on a council estate, he’s Anton Du Beke, the showman.’
Author, dancer and judge: Life of Strictly’s Anton Du Beke
Anton Du Beke was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father.
He discovered a passion for dancing after picking his sister Veronica up from a local studio in the town.
Du Beke was the longest-serving professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, having been a fixture on the BBC One series since it began.
He then swapped the dance floor for the judging panel to take over from departing judge Bruno Tonioli permanently in 2021.
His celebrity partners over the years have included former home secretary Jacqui Smith, soap star Emma Barton and politician Ann Widdecombe.
Off the dance floor, Du Beke is an author having published novels including We’ll Meet Again, One Enchanted Evening and A Christmas To Remember.
His solo tour, An Audience With Anton Du Beke starts this month.
Anton and Veronica both speak movingly about the moral and financial support their mother provided to help him become a dancer.
Kate Garraway reveals that Anton’s mother, Ascension, who lives in Spain, would have been in the audience but was unable to travel due to ill health.
Elsewhere during the interview, Anton revealed he was stabbed as a child in the stomach and the leg by his father on Boxing Day – leaving him in hospital for three days.
The Strictly star said the shocking incident happened while he was living at the family home on a council estate in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The professional dancer added that the revelations will likely come as a surprise to his friends and family as it is the first time in his ‘entire life’ he has spoken about it.
Garraway asks him: ‘Was the violence towards you?’ Du Beke replies: ‘Me, yeah. I’ve never spoken about this before in my entire life actually. I wanted a new start, and a new beginning. I mean I ended up in hospital for three days, but it was…’
Garraway said: ‘Did you?’ Du Beke replied: ‘Yeah.’ Garraway then asked: ‘Why, what happened?’ Du Beke said: ‘I got, I got stabbed. I’ve never said this out loud before.’
After the clip was played, Garraway then said in the GMB studio: ‘It was very, very, serious… physically, medically and obviously devastating emotionally.’
She added: ‘He would go on to say how it didn’t (hold him back) and he would go on to say the triumphs that he’s had and the other struggles that he’s had along the way.
‘And that is the thing, isn’t it? That is the lesson that you want youngsters and other people who may be experiencing violent, difficult, disturbing lives to look at and think ‘well, we can go forward and not let it define us’.’
Anton had no contact with his father following his parents divorce when he was in his early 20s, and only heard about him again after he had passed away in 2001.
Family: Anton is pictured as a baby with his mother Ascension
Coming up soon: Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs tonight (Wednesday) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
Discussing the phone call he received from the coroner’s office, Du Beke admitted he told them to call back after his mother had returned home as he ‘knew why’ they were calling and didn’t want to discuss it.
He said: ‘I knew he was going to tell me my father had died and I didn’t care. Or want to know. He was a stranger to me. That sounds a bit harsh and I don’t mean to sound like that.’
Actor Omid Djalili and Ruby Wax have also spoken to Garraway for this run of Life Stories.
Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs tonight (Wednesday) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
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