Judge Anton du Beke has opened up about his “overwhelming” return to Strictly Come Dancing as series 21 kicks off.
The dancer turned judge is one of just three originals from the first Strictly line-up, a fact he’s struggling to get his head around.
Anton, 57, said: “It’s a real surprise and a fortune that I’ve been a part of the show since the beginning. There’s only Craig [Revel-Horwood], Tess [Daly] and I left from the very first series.
“To have been part of a show that is part of the fabric of British consciousness – and the world’s, it’s such a global show – is sort of overwhelming. If I think about it too deeply it blows my mind.”
He added: “I feel massive pride. I love it now as much as I did then and I’m delighted about that as well.”
Anton du Beke ‘delighted’ to be part of Strictly
Anton danced his last series on the show in 2020, the same year he stood in for Motsi Mabuse as a judge while she self-isolated.
In 2022, Strictly confirmed that Anton would officially replace outgoing judge Bruno Tonioli, joining Craig, Motsi and Shirley Ballas.
Now he cannot wait to get back to judging duties. Anton said: “I am naturally, brilliantly excited about the whole thing. For me it’s just a magical time of year when Strictly returns to our screens. It always starts in the summer and goes into the autumn and winter.
“Just being in the building with everybody milling around, delighted and happy and joyous and all the brilliant teams back together. It’s so wonderfully exciting!”
As well as all the fun bits, Anton does admit that there are some parts of his job he’s not so keen on.
Anton’s “biggest challenge”
The pro dancer said: “The biggest challenge is eliminating somebody and sometimes it’s tighter than you’d want it to be, but that’s the job and that’s what I’m there for.”
Anton also revealed what a mission the annual Blackpool show at the iconic Tower Ballroom is.
He explained: “It’s such a massive production and we all go up to Blackpool and then rig it all up and it takes ten days. I mean it’s a huge thing, but it’s so worth it!”
Anton loved performing the judge’s dance when Strictly kicked off and now has plans to get back on the dancefloor.
He said: “What I would love to do one year is to do a dance with one of the professionals for one of the artist numbers like I used to.
“There’s nothing quite like performing, it’s magical. The thing about dancing with a celebrity is you get voted off, and that’s the bit I hated!”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday (September 23) at 6.15pm on BBC One.
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