Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

and

Latin dance Latin dance is a general label, and a term in partner dance competition jargon. It refers to types of ballroom dance and folk dance that mainly originated in Latin America. The category of Latin dances in the international dancesport competi ...

r, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

celebrity dancing show, ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', since the show began in 2004. His professional dance partner since 1997 has been

Erin Boag Erin Boag (born 17 March 1975) is a professional ballroom dancer. She has danced from the age of three, originally starting ballet and later moving into ballroom dance, ballroom, Latin dance, Latin and Jazz dance, jazz. Born in Auckland, New Zeal ...

. In 2009, he presented the United Kingdom version of '' Hole in the Wall'', for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, replacing

Dale Winton Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows ''Dale's Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show ''In It to Wi ...

after being a team captain in 2008. In November 2017, Beke released his debut studio album, ''From the Top'', on

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. It reached number 21 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Family and early life

Beke was born in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, 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 The Knole Academy is a secondary school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England that was opened in September 2010, as a result of the amalgamation of the Wildernesse School (for boys) and Bradbourne School (for girls). The site The former Bradbourne site w ...

in Sevenoaks. 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 when Beryl and Stephen Turner moved with his banking career to

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. 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 Petts Wood is a town in south-east London, England, previously located in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Chislehurst, west of St Paul's Cray and Poverest, north of Orpington and Crofton, and east of Southborough and Bromley ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. 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 30 March 2017, his son George and daughter Henrietta were born, announced with an Instagram post.

Career

Dance career

Du Beke's regular professional partner is

. 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 The International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) is a dance teaching and examination board based in Brighton, England. Operating internationally, the IDTA currently has over 7,000 members in 55 countries. The IDTA is recognised by the nation ...

Classic in Brighton.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

Anton du Beke and Erin Boag -Symphony Hall -Birmingham 27j2008

Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance Du Beke has appeared in every series of the BBC's ''

'' since its inception. In the first series, he danced with singer

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the ...

and finished in third place. For the second series, he partnered presenter

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and foun ...

; they were eliminated in the third week. He danced with actress

Patsy Palmer Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is an English actress and DJ, known for her roles as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), and Bianca Jackson in the BB ...

for the

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

and finished in fifth place. In the fourth series, he danced with actress and impressionist

Jan Ravens Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with he ...

but was eliminated in week 5 of the competition. His partner for the fifth series was TV presenter

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Curr ...

; the couple were voted out in week 7. His partner for the sixth series was actress

Gillian Taylforth Gillian Taylforth (born 14 August 1955) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Kathy Beale on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', and has also appeared as Jackie Pascoe/Webb on ITV's ''Footballers' Wives'' (2002–2006), and as ...

; the couple were voted out in week 2. In series seven, he was partnered with

Laila Rouass Laila Rouass (née Abdesselam) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Primeval'' and '' ...

. Together, they made it to week 12. In

series 8 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

, he partnered Conservative politician

Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician, author and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the E ...

. Despite Widdecombe's poor dancing ability, they made it through to the quarter final. For its ninth series,

Nancy Dell'Olio Nancy Dell'Olio (born 23 August 1961) is an Italian-American lawyer and media personality. She first came to public notice as the girlfriend of football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Early life Annunziata Dell'Olio was born in New York City as ...

was Anton's partner, the couple were eliminated in week 5. His partner for the tenth series was model and actress

Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modelling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film ''Batman''. Hall was th ...

. They were eliminated in week 3. His partner for

series 11 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

was actress

Fiona Fullerton Fiona Elizabeth Fullerton (born 10 October 1956) is a British actress and singer, known for her role as Alice in the 1972 film ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and as Bond girl KGB spy Pola Ivanova in the 1985 James Bond film ''A View to a ...

. They were eliminated in week 8 in Blackpool. For the show's twelfth series, his partner was tennis coach

Judy Murray Judith Mary Murray, OBE (née Erskine; born 8 September 1959) is a Scottish tennis coach. She is the mother of professional tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray. Life and career Murray was born on 8 September 1959 in Bridge of Allan, Sti ...

. They were also eliminated on week 8 in Blackpool. For

series 13 Series 13 or Season 13 may refer to: * Lego Minifigures (theme)#Series 13, the toy line by Lego * Warehouse 13, the TV series * 13" series laptops ** Dell Inspiron 13 ** Dell Latitude 13 *** Dell Latitude 13 Education Series The Dell Latit ...

, Du Beke was partnered with newscaster and presenter

Katie Derham Catherine Beatrice Margaret Derham (born 18 June 1970) is a British newscaster and a presenter on television and radio. Early life and education Derham was born on 18 June 1970 in Canterbury, Kent to Margaret, a teacher, and John Derham, a chemi ...

they made it to Du Beke's first final in all 13 series and were eliminated in fourth place. In

series 14 The Series 14 – NYSE Compliance Official exam is a qualification examination administered to compliance officials at New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) registered broker-dealers. The 110-question test is intended to ensure that individuals designa ...

, Du Beke was partnered with actress

Lesley Joseph Lesley Diana Joseph (born 14 October 1945) is an English actress and broadcaster, best known for playing Dorien Green in the television sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' from 1989 to 1998 and again from 2014 to 2020. Other television credits incl ...

. They were eliminated in week 5. In

series 15 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

in 2017, Du Beke was paired with television presenter

Ruth Langsford Ruth Wendy Holmes (née; Langsford; born 17 March 1960) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including '' This Morning'' (1999–present) in which she is the longest serving presenter, '' Gift Wrapped ...

. In 2018 Anton was partnered with Fashion Journalist

Susannah Constantine Susannah Caroline Constantine (born 3 June 1962) is an English former TV fashion 'guru', fashion writer, style advisor, television fashion presenter, author and clothes designer. Her second book, ''What Not to Wear'', co-written with her fas ...

. 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 Emma Louise Barton (born 26 July 1977) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Honey Mitchell in ''EastEnders'' which she has portrayed on and off since November 2005. Before her role in ''EastEnders'', Barton appeared ...

. In Week 9, Du Beke received his first 10s in all 17 series for their American Smooth; the couple received a total of fifteen 10s during the series. They finished joint runners-up alongside

Karim Zeroual Karim Zeroual (born 14 November 1993) is a British television presenter and actor. Early life Zeroual was born in London to parents of Moroccan heritage and was brought up by his mother. He attended theatre school in London. Stage and televisi ...

and Amy Dowden, but lost out to

Kelvin Fletcher Kelvin Warren Fletcher (born 17 January 1984) is an English actor, model, racing driver and presenter. He played Andy Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role he played from 1996 until 2016. In 2019, Fletcher won the seventeenth seri ...

and

Oti Mabuse Otlile "Oti" Mabuse (born 8 August 1990) is a South African talent show judge, presenter, dancer and Latin dance champion currently based in the United Kingdom. She is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series ' ...

. In 2020 Du Beke was partnered with former home secretary

Jacqui Smith Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and former Labour Party politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary from 2007 to 2009 ...

. They were eliminated in week 2 (first), Du Beke's second time finishing last. Du Beke has also appeared on a number of '' Children in Need'' and

Christmas Specials Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptation ...

of ''

.'' In 2008 he won the

Children in Need 2008 ''Children in Need 2008'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 14 November, through to the morning of Saturday 15 November. The broa ...

, special dancing an American Smooth with

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014. ...

. He danced once again with Anne Widdecombe in the 2012 Children in Need special but lost out to

Russell Grant Russell John Dammerall Grant (born 5 February 1951) is a British astrologer and media personality. He has written several books on astrology, provides syndicated newspaper horoscopes and operates premium rate astrology phone lines. In March 20 ...

and

Flavia Cacace Flavia Cacace-Mistry born 1980 is an Italian British professional dancer. Her professional dance partner is Vincent Simone (they are branded when performing together as 'Vincent and Flavia'), and for ten years both partners appeared on the BBC's ' ...

. He did however go on to win the

Children in Need 2014 ''Children in Need 2014'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for the charity Children in Need. It was the 34th such appeal, culminating in a live broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two on the evening of Friday 14 November until ...

special where he and fellow dancer

Natalie Lowe Natalie Lowe (born 15 August 1980) is an Australian ballroom dancer. She is a four-time Australian ballroom dance champion. Lowe competed on, and won, Australia's ''Dancing with the Stars'' with celebrity partner Anthony Koutoufides''.'' She la ...

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 Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for ''The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in and ...

Su Pollard Susan Georgina Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is an English actress and singer. Her career has spanned over 45 years; she is most famous for her role in the sitcom ''Hi-de-Hi!''. She also appeared in '' You Rang, M'Lord?'' and ''Oh, Doctor Beec ...

Katy Brand Katherine Frances Brand (born 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series ''Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4. Early life and education Brand was born in ...

and

Denise Lewis Denise Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports presenter and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, ...

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 Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. In 2020, he reprised his role as a judge for weeks 4 and 5 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'' for series 19, starting in September 2021, replacing

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptation ...

Laila Rouass comment

In 2009, Du Beke said that his dance partner

"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".

Other television appearances

In March 2007 Du Beke was a contestant on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

series ''

The Underdog Show ''The Underdog Show'' was a six-week television series presented by Julian Clary and his dog, Valerie. The series was produced by the independent production company Splash Medi Format The show on BBC2 featured celebrities Julia Sawalha, Anton du ...

'' and was paired with homeless dog Ginger. They were eliminated in week three of the competition. Du Beke has presented the

cookery show '' Step Up to the Plate''. He served as a captain and from series 2 the host on the UK version of '' Hole in the Wall'', which premiered on 20 September 2008 on

. On 24 December 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 Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

). Beaumont quit the show when unable to master Du Beke's warm up steps. During the week of 5 to 9 May 2014, Du Beke appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

game show ''

Draw It! ''Draw It!'' is a drawing game show that aired on Channel 4 from 5 May to 4 July 2014, hosted by Mel Giedroyc. It is loosely based on the popular mobile app, Draw Something. Format Each week, two well-known celebrities pair up with a different ...

''. On Christmas Day 2019, Du Beke surprised

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best k ...

as a guest in the Christmas Midnight Gameshow in '' Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show''.

''Strictly Come Dancing'' performances

Series 1 – with celebrity partner

, Du Beke was placed 3rd. Series 2 – with celebrity partner

, Du Beke was placed 8th. Series 3 – with celebrity partner

; placed 5th Series 4 – with celebrity partner

; placed 9th Series 5 – with celebrity partner

; placed 8th Series 6 – with celebrity partner

; placed 15th Series 7 – with celebrity partner

; placed 4th ¹ Rouass and Du Beke only performed half of their routine, due to an injury.
² Scores from guest judge

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest '' Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...

. Series 8 – with celebrity partner

; placed 6th Series 9 – with celebrity partner

; placed 11th Series 10 – with celebrity partner

; placed 13th Series 11 – with celebrity partner

; placed 9th Series 12 – with celebrity partner

; placed 9th ³ Score from guest judge

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

. Series 13 – with celebrity partner

; placed 4th Series 14 – with celebrity partner

; placed 11th Series 15 – with celebrity partner

; placed 9th ⁴Tonioli was absent due to working on

Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) ''Dancing with the Stars'' is an American dance competition television series that premiered on June 1, 2005, on ABC. It is the U.S. version of the UK series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', and one of several iterations of the ''Dancing with the S ...

Series 16 – with celebrity partner

; placed 15th Series 17 – with celebrity partner

; placed 2nd In week 9, at Blackpool, dancing an American Smooth, Du Beke scored his first ever 10s. ⁵Score awarded by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro Series 18 - with celebrity partner

; placed 12th

Discography

*''From the Top'' (2017)

Books

Du Beke has released a book called ''Anton's Dance Class'' which was serialised in the ''Mail on Sunday''. Du Beke also wrote A-Z on Ballroom Dancing, ''B is for Ballroom''. In October 2018, Du Beke released his debut novel 'One Enchanted Evening'. Du Beke has now released four 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 (November 2021)

Dance tours

In September 2022, Du Beke and

announced they were to appear at "Dancing With The Stars Weekends" 2023. In June 2020, Du Beke and

announced a 3-month 2021 UK Tour "SHOWTIME". In September 2020, Du Beke and

Giovanni Pernice Giovanni Pernice (born 5 September 1990) is an Italian professional dancer based in the United Kingdom, best known for his appearances on the British television show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He is also an Italian Open Latin Dance Champion (201 ...

announced a 2021 UK Tour "HIM & ME".

Philanthropy

Du Beke is an honorary patron of

The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America and the Theatre and Film Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London. The Guild's patrons include Brian Croucher ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Beke, Anton 1966 births British ballroom dancers English people of Hungarian descent English people of Spanish descent British television personalities British television presenters Living people People from Sevenoaks