Anton Du Beke has emotionally revealed that his father stabbed him in the stomach and leg as a child on Boxing Day, leaving him in hospital for three days.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 57, said the shocking incident happened while he was living at the family’s home in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The professional dancer added that the revelations will likely shock his friends and family, as it is the first time in “his entire life” that he has spoken about it.
Born to a Spanish mother and a Hungarian father, Du Beke discovered his talent for dancing after picking up his sister Veronica from a local studio in the city.
Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, ‘took a turn’ against Du Beke when alcoholism took hold and he became violent at home.
Du Beke spoke about Kate Garraway’s Life Stories in an episode which will air on ITV1 at 9pm tonight, and a preview clip played on Good Morning Britain today.
Anton Du Beke appears in Kate Garraway’s Life Stories in an episode which will air on ITV1 tonight
Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke spoke about Kate Garraway’s life stories on ITV1
Du Beke has spoken about Kate Garraway’s Life Stories, which will air tonight on ITV1
In it, Garraway asks him: ‘Was the violence directed at you?’ Du Beke replies: ‘I do. I’ve never talked about this before in my entire life actually. I wanted a fresh start, and a fresh start. I mean, I ended up in the hospital for three days, but it was…
Garraway said, ‘Did you?’ Du Beke replied: ‘Yes’. Garraway then asked: ‘Why, what happened?’ Du Beke said: ‘I was hit, I was stabbed. I have never said this out loud before.
After playing the clip, Garraway told the GMB studio: “It was very, very serious…physically, medically and obviously emotionally devastating.”
She added: ‘He would go on to say how it wasn’t like that (he stopped it) and he went on to say the wins he’s had and the other struggles he’s had along the way.
‘And that’s the thing, isn’t it? That’s the lesson that you want young people and others who may be experiencing violent, difficult, and upsetting lives to look at and think, ‘OK, we can move on and not let that define us.’
In other quotes provided to the media ahead of tonight’s broadcast, but not yet revealed on video, Du Beke told Garraway: “Alcoholism and violence… (was) towards me, because I was a child, a young man I suppose.
‘…You have an alcoholic father and a situation where if you’re in the house (he’s) drinking, you end up with fights and stuff.
“You’d switch places to get away from it all and then he follows you and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one night, I ended up in the hospital for three days.”
Du Beke said he was sure his family and friends didn’t know about the attack because he never saw any benefit in talking about his ordeal, telling Garraway: “I look to the future…I don’t like to look back, I like to look ahead.
Recalling the incident, he continued: ‘…I got stabbed in the leg and stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day and it was an idiotic situation.
Born to a Spanish mother and a Hungarian father, Anton Du Beke discovered a gift for dancing
Anton Du Beke pictured as a baby with his Spanish mother Ascension ‘Conchita’ Motto
“I remember leaving the house to walk to the hospital holding my leg and a police car went by and I waved them down and said ‘he’s there with a knife.'”
‘Anyway, they took him away and I ended up in the hospital for three or four days. My only concern was going back to the studio and dancing and the shame of it.’
Du Beke said he told people he had “pulled a hamstring” when asked about his leg injury because he was embarrassed.
He told presenter Garraway: ‘I really can’t believe I’m talking to you about this. I should have overlooked this. Even the idea that it (the attack) is a thing also bothers me.
Garraway said Du Beke’s father was cleared in court of hurting his son and when he died, Du Beke did not attend his funeral.
“It was all about moving on, I felt sorry for my mother, this was her husband, she works two jobs and he chose to drink and be violent, it’s just life and you carry on,” he said.
At that point, the aspiring dancer changed his name “from Tony Beke, who grew up on council estate” to “Anton Du Beke, The Show Man.”
He said: “I wanted a fresh start and a fresh start and I wanted to put what was before behind and then move on with the rest of my life, I just wanted to be me.”
Du Beke also said that his motivation to achieve success was not due to his father.
Du Beke is now married to his wife Hannah, with whom he shares six-year-old twins George and Henrietta.
Anton Du Beke and his wife Hannah at the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ premiere in London in May 2022
Anton du Beke with Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood in Strictly
He added: ‘Hate, oh me, I never looked for any sense of confirmation or encouragement from him and never did anything for him.
“My motivation to do what I did was not because of that.”
TV presenter Garraway, who replaced Piers Morgan as Life Stories presenter this year, said she knew Du Beke is “larger than life” but also a “very private” man after having danced with him on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.
She said: ‘He has a philosophy about his relationship with his fans that he’s there to bring joy into their lives and he doesn’t want to share any of his own problems.
“But with me he does, and it showed a huge leap of confidence on his part, because a lot of the things we talked about he hadn’t even talked about even with his close family, and I was very honored to be able to.” help him share it.’
Actor Omid Djalili and Ruby Wax also spoke with Garraway for this Life Stories series.
Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs tonight (Wednesday) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
