Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has revealed he was stabbed by his father as a young man because of his passion for dancing, an incident that led to his father's arrest and his parents' divorce.
The 60-year-old, who joined the BBC show as a professional dancer in 2004 and became a judge in 2021, discusses the traumatic episode in his new memoir, Steps in Time: The Moments That Made Me. In it, he recounts his childhood in Kent, from his suburban home life to riding Chopper bicycles.
A Troubled Childhood
Du Beke explained that his Hungarian-born father and Spanish-born mother moved to England to "find a better life." His mother, Ascensión, who now lives with early-onset dementia, worked two jobs to raise Anton and his two younger siblings and eventually bought her own council house.
"She had her goal and she achieved it through hard work. That was instilled in us growing up," he told the Radio Times.
His father, however, was a violent alcoholic who called his son a maricón — Spanish for "gay boy" — for his love of dancing. When Du Beke was in his 20s, his father stabbed him, leading to his arrest and the couple's divorce.
Heartbreaking Admission
Decades later, Du Beke confessed he tries not to think about his father. "I don't want people to give me sympathy… and it's not the defining moment of my life," he writes in the book, as reported by the Radio Times. "I try not to spend too much time thinking about him."
During a previous interview on ITV's Life Stories, he told presenter Kate Garraway that his father was an "alcoholic" throughout his and his sister Veronica's childhood, resulting in a violent household atmosphere.
The Stabbing Incident
Du Beke recounted one particularly distressing episode where his father stabbed him in the leg and stomach, requiring a three-day hospital stay. Despite the severity of his injuries, a young Du Beke, determined to return to the dance studio, concealed the true cause of his wounds, telling his dancing partners that he had "pulled a hamstring."
Recounting the assault, Du Beke said: "I got stabbed in the leg and in the stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day. It was idiotic. An idiotic situation. I remember walking out of the house to walk up to the hospital, holding my leg, and a police car drove past and I waved him down.
"And I said 'he's in there with a knife' - anyway they carted him off and I ended up in hospital for three or four days.
"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. You'd move room to get away from it and he'd follow you in and then the violence starts," he continued. "My only concern was getting back into the studio and dancing - and the embarrassment of it really. I'd say I'd pulled a hamstring."
The full interview is available in the Radio Times, out now.
