Anton Du Beke says the best thing about being famous is the happiness it brings to his mum after her troubled marriage to his dad.
The Strictly star, 54, added his mother bleached her greying hair when she got divorced and “sort of turned into a hardly recognisable rock chick”.
Anton, who previously told how his drunken father often beat him with a belt, said: “It’s sort of obvious that that’s not OK... the aggression and the alcohol.
“I didn’t have a light bulb moment and go ‘Oh, does your dad not do that?’.”
Anton, who has been a professional dancer on BBC show Strictly since the first series in 2004, added: “What I love more than anything else about being well known is the impact it has on my mum.
“I love the fact people know I’m my mum’s son and people know my mum.
“My mum is fabulous and lovely. I love that she’s sort of got a bit famous... and she comes along now and again to see the show and it’s great.”
Talking about life in his 20s, he said that although he lived at home for long periods “there was no interaction” with his father at that time “as our paths rarely crossed”.
Anton, who grew up in Sevenoaks, Kent, with Spanish mum Ascension and Hungarian dad Antal, said that after his parents separated it was “nice to see my mum’s life start to improve”.
He added: “She had very dark hair... and the greying hair was going through and she looked fantastic and distinguished. But when the divorce came through, she peroxided her hair blonde, and suddenly turned into some sort of rock chick I barely recognised.”
His father died in 2001. Dad-of-two Anton also told BBC Sounds podcast When I Was 25 with Vinny Hurrell about his brilliant
relationship with his father-in-law.
Anton, who is married to Hannah Summers, said: “If you wanted a father you would want him to be your father. He is the loveliest, loveliest man.”
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