Anton Du Beke has received a wave of support online after opening up about growing up in an abusive household on Kate Garraway‘s Life Stories on Wednesday.
The 57-year-old Strictly Come Dancing judge emotionally revealed he was stabbed as a child in the stomach and the leg by his father on Boxing Day – leaving him in hospital for three days.
He explained that the revelations will likely come as a surprise to his friends and family as it is the first time in his ‘entire life’ he has spoken about it.
His sister Veronica, 53, and wife Hannah Summers, 46, looked emotional as they watched from the live audience.
Viewers of the show took to Twitter to praise Anton on his bravery and express their admiration for his strength, declaring him a ‘national treasure’.
Praise: Anton Du Beke has received a wave of support online after opening up about growing up in an abusive household on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories on Wednesday
Awful: The 57-year-old Strictly Come Dancing judge emotionally revealed he was stabbed as a child in the stomach and the leg by his father – leaving him in hospital for three days
One person said: ‘You just never know what really goes on behind closed doors. A warm smile and brilliant humour can hide horrendous truth. What a truly fantastic man.’
Another echoed: ‘What a lovely, lovely guy @TheAntonDuBeke is, so genuine, thank you for sharing your story, keep looking forward, I couldn’t agree more.’
A third added: ‘Watching @TheAntonDuBeke on #LifeStories with @kategarraway honestly what a gentleman he is and taking about what he went through, when he was younger he just as amazing as he always is he is loved by everyone’.
A fourth agreed, writing: ‘There is so much to love about Anton Du Beke that it’s actually quite ridiculous. What a top bloke.’
A fifth tweeted: ‘Oh, Anton, oh my heart. You’ve always been one of my favourites, but now I’m totally in awe of your courage & resilience.
‘I had to look back & work things through for my healing, but how we survive & heal is unique. I hope talking on #LifeStories brought some healing. Dance on!’
While a sixth chimed in to say: ‘@AntonDuBeke I’m sure this interview was very cathartic for you. ❤️ Keep shining like the ⭐️ that you are!’
And a seventh gushed: ‘I want to give Anton Du Beke a hug. I can see this is so hard for him talking about his past.’
‘Genuine’: Viewers of the show took to Twitter to praise Anton on his bravery and express their admiration for his strength, declaring him a ‘national treasure’
Born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father, Anton discovered his flair for dancing after picking his sister Veronica up from a local studio in the town.
Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, ‘took a turn’ against Anton as alcoholism gripped him and he became violent at home.
On the show, Kate asked: ‘Was the violence towards you?’ with Anton replying: ‘Me, yeah. I’ve never spoken about this before in my entire life actually. I wanted a new start, and a new beginning. I mean I ended up in hospital for three days, but it was…’
Kate said: ‘Did you?’ Anton replied: ‘Yeah.’ She then asked: ‘Why, what happened?’ Anton said: ‘I got, I got stabbed. I’ve never said this out loud before.’
Anton also said: ‘The alcoholism and the violence…(it was) towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose.
‘…You’ve got an alcoholic father and a situation where if you’re in the house (he’s) drinking then you end up with the fights and stuff.
‘You’d move room to get away from all of it and then he follows you in and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one evening, I ended up in hospital for three days.’
Anton said he was sure his family and friends did not know about the attack because he never saw any gain from speaking about his ordeal, telling Kate: ‘I’m a forward looker…I don’t like to look back, I like to look forward.’
Talent: Born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father, Anton discovered his flair for dancing after picking his sister Veronica up from a local studio in the town
Childhood: Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, ‘took a turn’ against Anton as alcoholism gripped him and he became violent at home (pictured with his mother Ascensión ‘Conchita’ Lema)
Recalling the incident, he continued: ‘…I got stabbed in the leg and in the stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day and it was 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 them 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. My only concern was getting back into the studio and dancing and the embarrassment of it.’
Anton said he told people he had ‘pulled a hamstring’ when asked about his leg injury because he was embarrassed.
He told host Kate: ‘I can’t really believe I’m talking to you about this. I should’ve glossed over this. Even the thought of that [the attack] being a thing sort of annoys me as well.’
Kate said Anton’s father was cleared in court of wounding his son and when he died, Anton did not attend his funeral.
‘Everything was about moving forwards, I felt sorry for my mum, this was her husband, she’s working two jobs and he chose to drink and be violent, it’s just life and you carry on,’ he said.
At the time, the aspiring dancer changed his name ‘from Tony Beke, who grew up on a council estate’ to ‘Anton Du Beke, The Show Man’.
Sibling love: His sister Veronica Richards also appeared on the programme and revealed how their father would drunkenly abuse Anton for being ‘gay’ and turned against him because of his love for dancing
Growing up: After leaving school without any qualifications so that he could pursue a career in dancing, Veronica reveals that their father became even more abusive towards Anton
He said: ‘I wanted a new start and a new beginning and I wanted to leave what went before, behind, and then move on with the rest of my life, I just wanted to be me.’
Anton also said his motivation to achieve success was not because of his father.
He added: ‘I hate woe is me, I never sought any sense of confirmation or encouragement from him and I never did anything I did because of him.
‘My motivation to do what I did was not because of that.’
His sister Veronica Richards also appeared on the programme and revealed how their father would drunkenly abuse Anton for being ‘gay’ and turned against him because of his love for dancing.
She recalled: ‘My dad, I don’t think he was quite so impressed with Anton dancing, he used to call him gay, he took a turn against Anton.
‘My dad’s drinking affected his mood. He was mean. He was not a nice person when he was drunk.’
Talking about the impact their father’s alcoholism had on family life, she adds: ‘My dad was drinking his money down the toilet so mum worked nights in a nursing home, she was not in the house, she was not there to protect us really.’
Family man: Anton is now married to wife Hannah Summers with whom he shares twins George and Henrietta, six
Dynamics: Kate asked him what he now thinks about his own father after becoming a parent to six-year-old twins George and Henrietta
Touching: Anton emotionally revealed that his father-in-law (pictured) is his role model for how to be a dad as he paid tribute to him, while he sat in the audience
After leaving school without any qualifications so that he could pursue a career in dancing, Veronica reveals that their father became even more abusive towards Anton.
She explained: ‘My dad put him down for it [dancing], called him gay for doing it but that would have the effect on him [Anton] to make him wanna be the best.
‘He’s not Tony Bek who grew up on a council estate, he’s Anton Du Beke, the showman.’
Anton and Veronica both spoke movingly about the moral and financial support their mother provided to help him become a dancer.
Kate revealed that Anton’s mother, Ascension, who lives in Spain, would have been in the audience but was unable to travel due to ill health.
Anton is now married to wife Hannah Summers with whom he shares twins George and Henrietta, six.
He emotionally revealed that her father-in-law is his role model for how to be a dad as he paid tribute to him.
He said his father-in-law was ‘all he needed’ if looking for any guidance of how to be a good parent.
Judge: Elsewhere during the interview, Anton discussed his 20-year tenure on Strictly Come Dancing and joining the judging panel for the 2021 series
Heartfelt: He got emotional as he told how head judge Len Goodman was the only person he went to for advice on the new role
Kate asked him what he now thinks about his own father after becoming a parent to George and Henrietta.
He replied: ‘Oh I don’t think about it! I never give it a second thought about what he missed out on.’
Kate then added: ‘So you’re trying to be something different from him?’ to which Anton repeated: ‘No no I’m not. I don’t give it a moments thought.’
He then sweetly added: ‘If I need a role model of how to be a great father I look at my father-in-law. What a guy, what a man, that’s all you need!
‘If I need an example of what it’s all about I just look to him.’
The cameras then panned to his father-in-law as he broke down in tears watching the interview.
Elsewhere during the interview, Anton discussed his 20-year tenure on Strictly Come Dancing and joining the judging panel for the 2021 series.
He got emotional as he told how head judge Len Goodman was the only person he went to for advice on the new role.
Tragic: The much-loved head judge, Len, passed away in April aged 78 , just six months into his retirement – he had been in a hospice following a short illness with bone cancer
Emotional: His wife Sue (pictured) got visibly emotional as she watched from the audience, as Anton reflected on his friendship with Len
He said: ‘Well they asked me to judge and I spoke to Len about it, I didn’t speak to anyone else, I only spoke to Len…’ he said before tearing up.
Anton continued: ‘I feel like Len and I shared a journey together. I’d known Len for 45 years.
‘He had this great dance school in Dartford and I come from Sevenoaks so I knew all about it.
‘I spoke to Len and it was immediately clear what I should do within five seconds. He said to me “be yourself and say what you see.”‘
‘It’s important for me to say what the people at home can see, because that’s what Len did.’
The much-loved head judge, Len, passed away in April aged 78, just six months into his retirement – he had been in a hospice following a short illness with bone cancer.
His wife Sue got visibly emotional as she watched from the audience, as Anton reflected on his friendship with Len.
Despite being on the show for so long, Anton only reached the final twice, with Katie Derham in 2015 and Emma Barton in 2019 but failed to win each time.
Speaking about his track record, he said: ‘I realised within ten minutes two things. One, this isn’t about me, and two, I’m going to have to be myself because we had the microphones on and cameras on at all times.
‘So I never minded who I got, and if I got someone who couldn’t dance I’d just fly them in. That’s the fun.
‘But I hated getting voted off, it was absolutely mortifying, gutting and really, really felt horrible because I hated not being part of the show.’
