Anton Du Beke reckons he still has a chance of winning Strictly Come Dancing – and insists he will stay on the show “to the bitter end”.
Anton, who has been on all 16 series so far, admitted: “I do get nervous about not being asked back because I love it so much.
“If I didn’t care it wouldn’t bother me. I feel the same about the show now as I did at the beginning.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying to the bitter end.”
He has reached the top half of the table only five times – but puts it down to his celebrity partners having a combined age of 835 years.
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They included Lesley Joseph, then 71, Esther Rantzen, 64, and Ann Widdecombe, 63. Anton laughed: “We haven’t seen me win, I’m hoping this is the year. I’m going for a bendy one this series.”
Now 52, he added: “I’m lucky, I don’t get aches and pains. I’ve got a very good body for it.”
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If he is pensioned off, he hopes to land a judging role instead. He said: “I’d be interested. I can only be asked when the opportunity arises.”
The dad of two-year-old twins has used his ballroom experience for his first novel, but has not won over wife Hannah. He said: “I read extracts of my own book to my wife when I’m trying to be romantic.
“She looks at me and goes, ‘Really?’ I think, ‘Fair enough… I tell her, ‘You can be [author] Helena Marchmont tonight’.”
- Anton’s novel, One Enchanted Evening, is out now.
