Anton Du Beke has revealed he was once left "rocked" during a live show after an audience member took offence to one of his jokes and "stormed" out. He shared the remarks during a recent chat with fellow Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood; the duo have recently teamed up to front their own "deliciously tongue-in-cheek" podcast.
Worst heckle of his career
In the closing minutes of the August 25 episode, Craig asked his friend about the worst heckle of his long career as a ballroom dancer. Anton responded by sharing a "horrible" incident that took place in Manchester.
Anton said: "Oh, I had a moment once. Oh, it makes me feel a bit sick now". Craig quipped that he enjoys seeing his co-star "uncomfortable". Anton told him that he was "being rude" at the time.
Audience member's reaction
He continued on the Judgemental podcast: "Oh, it was horrible, really. And you know, I was doing this stuff in my show at the time, years ago. And I was talking about my ex-partners and stuff, and you know, the joke is all, 'Why do you always get the ones that can't dance?' And that's not strictly true, but it's quite funny.
"And I was being rude about one of my partners, but not badly rude, cos I'm not unkind, sort of we're having, you know, some fun with it. Anyway, one lady took umbrage to this, and she stood up. There's 2,000 people in the theatre."
Anton explained that it took place at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, a concert venue that, unlike a traditional theatre, wasn't "completely dark" and instead had "ambient light".
Husband followed her out
"Anyway, she stood up, and she went, 'Cheap, cheap jokes!', or something like this and stormed up the aisle. And I was sort of rocked by it, really.
"And after about 30 more seconds, you could see her husband get up and walk out as well because I think he felt obliged to go.
"I don't think he wanted to go, but suddenly, he felt obliged to go as well. So he sort of got up and sort of tootled up the centre aisle of the theatre. I went, 'Oh dear. I seem to have upset her'."
Anton went ahead with the show, but it later emerged that the couple were made to wait in the foyer because her mum was in the audience, was "loving it" and stayed until the end.
He said he felt "terrible" about the incident and hoped she didn't feel "upset", insisting he was not "being mean".
Strictly return
It comes as Strictly fans gear up for the return of the BBC dance competition at the end of September.
The new series will be the first to be fronted by Johannes Radebe, Josh Widdicombe and Emma Willis, who are taking over after the departures of long-time presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
