Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has revealed that his father stabbed him in the leg and stomach during his childhood, leaving him hospitalised. The dancer spoke candidly about the attack and his difficult upbringing while appearing on ITV's Life Stories with Kate Garraway.
Attack on Boxing Day
Du Beke, now a judge on the BBC show, described the incident as a fight on Boxing Day. He recalled walking to hospital holding his leg and flagging down a police car, telling officers that his father was inside the house with a knife. He ended up in hospital for three or four days.
He said his father was an alcoholic throughout his upbringing, creating a violent home environment. "You've got an alcoholic father and a situation where, if you're in the house and he's drinking, you end up with the fights and stuff," he said. "You'd move room to get away from it and he'd follow you in and then the violence starts."
Hidden truth from friends
Despite the seriousness of his wounds, a young Du Beke hid the real reason behind his injuries from his dancing partners, claiming he had "pulled a hamstring". He admitted that discussing his father's aggression now is the "first time I've mentioned it out loud".
During the programme, his sister Veronica Richards revealed their father "hated" Du Beke's passion for dancing. "My Dad was not so impressed with Anton dancing, he used to call him gay," she said. "He took a turn against Anton. My dad's drinking affected his mood, he wasn't a nice person when he was drunk. He was mean."
Early life and career
Du Beke, his sister Veronica and younger brother Stephen were brought up by their parents, Hungarian father Antal Xavier Beke and Spanish mother Ascension 'Conchita' Lema, in a council house on an estate in Sevenoaks, Kent. Money was scarce, with his mother juggling two jobs, prompting Du Beke to quit school so he could earn money for his dance lessons and stay away from his father.
After moving out, Du Beke cut all ties with his father, and his parents subsequently divorced. When his father died in 2001, Du Beke chose not to attend the funeral. He said: "I hate the thought that anything like that defines you. I hate 'woe is me'. I never sought any sense of encouragement from him, my motivation wasn't because of him, it was because I wanted to do it."
Du Beke grew tearful as he praised his mother. "She's amazing and it makes me sad," he said. "She funded everything. I had nothing. I left school - I didn't take a single exam. No academic qualifications whatsoever."
Asked whether his father's behaviour shaped his own approach to fatherhood, Du Beke said he looks to his father-in-law as a role model: "If I need a role model of how to be a great father I look to my father-in-law. What a guy. What a man. That's all you need."
The programme also examined Du Beke's path to stardom following his collaboration with ballroom dancer Erin Boag in the late 1990s, with the pair reaching the World Championships finals three times. His wife Hannah and their twins, George and Henrietta, featured briefly, with Hannah describing her husband as the "kindest, gentlest, most fun individual you are ever likely to meet".
