Anton du Beke

Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke, is a British ballroom and Latin dancer, author and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and, from 2021 onwards, a judge on the BBC One celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing. His professional dance partner since 1997 has been Erin Boag. In 2009 he presented the United Kingdom version of Hole in the Wall for the BBC, replacing Dale Winton, after being a team captain in 2008. In November 2017 he released his debut studio album, From the Top, on Polydor Records. It reached number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. Family and early life Du Beke was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, to a Hungarian father, Antal Xavier Beke (1939–2001), and a Spanish mother, Ascensión "Conchita" Lema. He has two younger siblings, brother Stephen and his sister Veronica. He attended Wildernesse School in Sevenoaks. Du Beke has discussed his father's problems with alcoholism and revealed that he was stabbed by his father in the leg and stomach during a Boxing Day altercation at their home in Kent. Du Beke began dancing at 14, when he discovered his local dance school, the Holton School of Dancing in Sevenoaks. He had three partners during these formative years before the Holton School of Dancing closed in 1987. Du Beke left school at 16 to follow an amateur dancing career. At 17, he decided to specialise in ballroom. While he danced during the evenings and at weekends, he had a day job as a salesman in "The Bed Post" in Petts Wood, South London. He dated television presenter Caroline Feraday from 2007 to 2008.