Anton Du Beke appeared to confirm that he will be returning as judge on Strictly Come Dancing this year during a recent interview.
The 55-year-old star was chatting to Charlene White on ITV news when he seemingly referred to his future on the panel.
During the chat, Charlene said to him: "What made me laugh this morning, I was listening to Giovanni Pernice's interview on Radio 2 because he was talking about the tour that you guys are gonna be doing very soon and he said that you're a bit like a grandfather, and I was thinking, 'but he's not old enough to be a grandfather!'"
Laughing at the comment, Anton replied: "He's so rude! That is the last time I give him good marks, I can tell you. It's a four from me in the future."
He then quickly added: "All being well," as he hinted at the idea of him being asked back as a judge.
Anton stood in for judge Bruno Tolioni for the 2021 series, as he was stuck in the US due to Covid travel rules.
According to reports, insiders have since claimed the 66-year-old Italian has been axed from the BBC series for good - which could lead the way for Anton to become a permanent judge.
Anton's name was noticeably absent from the list of confirmed professionals who will be taking part in the 2022 series this autumn.
But Anton insisted to Great British Life at the beginning of April that he genuinely doesn't know if he will be on the panel again.
"The absolute truth is that I don’t know. I haven’t been told. They literally haven’t spoken to me about it," he said.
“So, whatever you’ve read, it is just a rumour. I’m hoping to get a call to say, 'Look, here you go, come back judging please', but we’ll wait and see."
He continued: "I would like to think I’d be on the show in one way or another. I wouldn’t like to think they would just get rid of me altogether. That would be a bit dramatic to go from dancer to judge to off the show. That would be quite a career path, wouldn’t it?"
The Mirror has contacted a rep for Strictly asking for comment.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC later this year.
