Anton Du Beke tells Kate Garraway about being stabbed by his father
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nton Du Beke has revealed he spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed within the abdomen and the leg by his father on Boxing Day whereas he was dwelling on the household house in Kent.
The Strictly Come Dancing decide, 57, stated the revelations will seemingly come as a shock to his family and friends as it’s the first time he has spoken concerning the childhood incident.
Born to a Spanish mom and Hungarian father, Du Beke lived on a council property in Sevenoaks, and found his aptitude for dancing after selecting his sister up from the native studio.
Although his mom inspired his new passion, his father, Antal, “took a turn” in opposition to Du Beke as alcoholism gripped him.
Appearing on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories, Du Beke stated: “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.
“I got stabbed, I’ve never said this out loud before,” he stated struggling to carry again his tears on the ITV present.
Du Beke stated he was certain his household and buddies didn’t know concerning the assault as a result of he by no means noticed any acquire from talking about his ordeal, telling Garraway: “I’m a forward looker…I don’t like to look back, I like to look forward.”
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.”
Du Beke stated he informed individuals he had “pulled a hamstring” when requested about his leg damage as a result of he was embarrassed.
The skilled dancer informed host Garraway: “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.”
Garraway stated Du Beke’s father was cleared in court docket of wounding his son and when he died, Du Beke didn’t 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 stated.
At the time, the aspiring dancer modified his identify “from Tony Beke, who grew up on a council estate” to “Anton Du Beke, The Show Man”.
He stated: “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.”
Du Beke additionally stated his motivation to attain success was not due to 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.”
TV presenter Garraway, who took over from Piers Morgan because the host of Life Stories this yr, stated she knew Du Beke is “larger than life” however can be a “very private” man after her time dancing with him on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.
She stated: “He has a philosophy about his relationship with his fans that he is there to bring joy into their lives and doesn’t want to share any of his own troubles.
“But with me he does, and it showed a huge leap of trust on his part, because many of the things we talked about he hadn’t even really talked about even with his close family, and I felt so honoured to be able to help him to share it.”
Du Beke was the longest-serving skilled dancer on Strictly, having been a fixture on the BBC One sequence because it started, till he swapped the dance ground for the judging panel to take over from departing decide Bruno Tonioli completely in 2021.
His superstar companions over time have included former house secretary Jacqui Smith, cleaning soap star Emma Barton and politician Ann Widdecombe.
Off the dance ground, Du Beke is an writer having printed novels together with We’ll Meet Again, One Enchanted Evening and A Christmas To Remember – and his solo tour, An Audience With Anton Du Beke begins this month.
Actor Omid Djalili and Ruby Wax have additionally spoken to Garraway for this run of Life Stories.
Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs on Wednesday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.