Anton Du Beke has blasted claims he’s quit Strictly Come Dancing after being eliminated at the weekend.
The 52-year-old year assured fans he’s not going anywhere after it was alleged Anton told bosses he wanted to leave the show after going out first this year.
Anton said: “My loves, some people are reporting I’m quitting the show. Absolute rubbish! I’m NEVER quitting. Whether they want me or not, I’m never going! Love you all and love Strictly.”
Naturally, Anton’s fans were relieved to hear that!
My loves, some people are reporting I'm quitting the show. Absolute rubbish! I'm NEVER quitting. Whether they want me or not, I'm never going! 😄 Love you all and love @bbcstrictly! #BBCstrictly
— Anton Du Beke (@TheAntonDuBeke) October 1, 2018
One told him: “You are the king of Strictly, it wouldn’t be the same without you you are a true gentleman.”
Read more: Strictly fans issue plea over Anton’s future partner
Another agreed: “Every year you are brilliant buddy your sense of humour is truly wonderful and it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
A third wrote, “Love you, you legend”, while a fourth said: “Love you even more now Anton.”
Anton and his celebrity partner Susannah Constantine were the first to leave this year’s Strictly, after scoring just 12 out of a possible 40 points on Saturday night.
Anton has since said Susannah could have been a “grower” in the competition, but that she was not a fast-enough learner.
He told Chris Evans on his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show: “She’s what I’d like to say is a grower, but sadly not briskly enough, as it turns out.”
It’s the first time Anton’s bowed out in Week Two, but his time with Susannah has been fab-u-lous 👏 #Strictly pic.twitter.com/JKeMEEdJsH
— BBC Strictly✨ (@bbcstrictly) September 30, 2018
Asked by Chris if he thought “oh no” when he first saw Susannah dance, Anton, 52, said: “Well, I thought ‘That could take some time’.
“But what I thought about Susannah is that she was really interesting and lovely and that we’d have a great time and hopefully something might come out of it, dance-wise.
“I think she would have been OK, if she could have had a bit more time, that’s all. But that’s the thing about Strictly Come Dancing – the show’s upon you before you know it.
“You get maybe four, maybe five days to get a routine up and going, and what overwhelms you is the nerves, it’s them that really debilitate you, the fear of going wrong, the fear of messing up, ironically.”
Anton, who is the only professional dancer to have starred in Strictly since it began, has never won the show but has never before been in the first couple to leave.
He said, of former What Not To Wear host Susannah: “I thought she did incredibly well, I take my hat off to her, she’s absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed every second of being with her.
“I’m just sad it’s over.”
Chris said: “She was woeful, but anybody who puts themselves up to Strictly, especially if you are a little more mature than the youngsters in the show and you can’t really put one foot in front of the other, even more so. The other thing is, it’s the energy – you’ve got to be fit.”
Anton said: “You’re doing it all day, you think you’ll be OK, and suddenly, the first day in the studio you’re doing six, eight hours of training.”
He said celebrities joining the programme often struggle with the amount of training and that there are no days off, adding: “It’s one of those things you just can’t explain until you’ve actually had a go.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoYYYWTAvgu/?hl=en&taken-by=susannahconstantine
Anton and Susannah faced Blue star Lee Ryan and his partner, Nadiya Bychkova, in the dance-off in Sunday night’s results show, after coming bottom of the leaderboard.
The judges chose unanimously to save Lee and Nadiya, which Susannah said was “the right choice”.
Read more: Strictly judges accused of being brutal as one contestant left in tears
Sunday night’s results show was the most-watched programme across all channels on the day, with an average of 8.6 million viewers and a peak of 9.6 million, the BBC said.
Once again, it beat rival programme The X Factor, which drew five million viewers on average and peaked at 5.4 million, according to overnight ratings.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One at 6.30pm on Saturday.
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