Kate Garraway says Anton Du Beke is “incredibly brave” after speaking out for the first time about a childhood incident, in which he was stabbed by his father.
The former Strictly Come Dancing judge made the revelation during a new series of Life Stories, now hosted by Garraway.
He spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed in the stomach and the leg on Boxing Day while he was living at the family home in Kent.
"I'll be relieved when it's gone out and everyone sees how brilliant he is"@KateGarraway discusses the difficulties of asking friend, @TheAntonDuBeke to open up about his life.#TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/f4zb1bfO6n pic.twitter.com/5ghdAZ0fBl
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) August 2, 2023
Speaking on The One Show ahead of the episode’s airing, Garraway said Du Beke had “never wanted to let what happened to him define him in any way.”
“When he was competing as a dancer he didn’t want to be pitied and he wanted to compete and be seen on the merits of his dancing,” she said.
“He didn’t want to give the bad stuff the oxygen, he feels very grateful and he wanted to celebrate that.
“He got to the point where he didn’t want to hide or deny his past, as there are other people who are going through it and who are scarred by what they’ve been through.
“He thought if I’m going to speak about it, I’m going to do it with Kate. I hope that people see that he is wanting to share it for some good, not just for the sake of it.”
Sharing her thoughts on the episode she continued: “I think he’s incredibly brave, I’m really proud of him and I think it will be an extraordinary watch.
“It’s so unexpected, it took everyone’s breath away.”
Born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father, Du Beke lived on a council estate in Sevenoaks, and discovered his flair for dancing after picking his sister up from the local studio.
Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, “took a turn” against Du Beke as alcoholism gripped him.
“There was abuse, violent, frightening abuse that no child should have to go through,” Garraway told The One Show.
“It affected his siblings, his mum worked very hard 24 hours a day to keep going and his father was an alcoholic.
"There was abuse, frightening, terrifying abuse"@KateGarraway gives us an insight into what @TheAntonDuBeke opened up about in his episode of "Life Stories" #TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/f4zb1bfO6n pic.twitter.com/LFVgdVeRTr
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) August 2, 2023
“His family, including his wife, didn’t know about this stuff…. But I think he got to the point where he felt he shouldn’t feel any shame and it was OK to do it.”
Du Beke previously said that the revelations would likely come as a shock to his friends and family, as it is the first time he has spoken about the incident publicly.
The 57-year-old was the longest-serving professional dancer on Strictly, having been a fixture on the BBC One series since it began, until he swapped the dance floor for the judging panel to take over from departing judge Bruno Tonioli permanently in 2021.
His celebrity partners over the years have included former home secretary Jacqui Smith, soap star Emma Barton and politician Ann Widdecombe.
Off the dance floor, Du Beke is an author having published novels including We’ll Meet Again, One Enchanted Evening and A Christmas To Remember – and his solo tour, An Audience With Anton Du Beke starts this month.
Actor Omid Djalili and Ruby Wax have also spoken to Garraway for this run of Life Stories.
Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs on Wednesday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.