Anton Du Beke may be the latest king of light entertainment following his win last month at the National Television Awards, but the Strictly Come Dancing star is setting his sights on bigger things.
“Don’t stop dreaming. You have got to keep dreaming,” says Anton, 56, who beat fellow nominees RuPaul, David Walliams and Mo Gilligan for the Best Talent Show Judge award at this year’s ceremony.
“Now I have another dream and that’s to play the London Palladium where Sir Bruce [Forsyth] began his career,” he says. “This is a dream of mine. I have got a date booked for autumn next year and it will be an evening with me and dance.
“I have dreams of doing wonderful things. It all sounds so self-obsessed but it’s my love, my passion. I have done a show at the Royal Albert Hall and I would love to do that again too.”
Explaining how he regards Bruce as an idol, he says, “Brucie was the ultimate and I spent a lot of time with him. I was starstruck the first time I met him. That was the moment and the only moment I was starstruck.
“I mean, I’ve been in the studio with Beyoncé for heaven’s sake and Kylie Minogue and Michael Bublé. I have kissed Michael on the cheek and I’ve danced in front of Andrea Bocelli. But I remember the first time I met Brucie. He was a hero of mine and one of the reasons I did Strictly was because of him.”
Anton followed his heroes into showbiz and his five-year-old twins George and Henrietta could be similarly inspired – he says they are his biggest fans. The dancer reveals that they and his wife Hannah Summers had everything crossed for him the night before this year’s TV awards at Wembley Arena.
“My children are of a wonderful age and they are so involved with me,” says Anton. “They knew I was going out to get an award as they get awards in school. When they found out I was going to the NTAs they were like ‘Good luck, Daddy.’ Henrietta did this little thing with my hand and gave me a good luck charm. She said, ‘This is for good luck.’ It was so gorgeous. When I got home I put the award on the bedside table in our bedroom.
“I got up early the next morning and George came in. I could hear his feet and he turned to me and said, ‘Daddy, did you win a trophy? Or is it a medal?’ It was just wonderful. I never want it to change. They both want to become dancers and they watch Strictly . Henrietta is all over it and puts her own scores up.”
When asked if he would like his children to follow in his footsteps in the world of competitive dance, however, he is unsure.
“I don’t know really. If they want to do that, they can do that. But I want them to try everything and then find out what they fancy at the end. Dancing is a great thing to do. I want them to dance but I want them to do other things too,” he explains.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Anton says his children, who were conceived through IVF, are his greatest joy.
“We had children when I was 50 and it has been the best thing that ever happened in my life,” he says. “We decided to have children and we went down the IVF route. We did it and had the greatest fortune as we became pregnant. We thank our lucky stars. It is the most incredible thing in the world and has been brilliant.”
Anton toasts his fellow Strictly stars for his success as well as the show’s army of backroom crew who work behind the scenes.
“I hope Strictly goes on for another 100 years and I’ll stay in it,” he says. “ Strictly is the best show. I have been on it for 20 years. The show is the best of the best. We have the best production team. The cameramen are the best in the game and you have the best make-up and hair people, costumes, special effects and the new augmented reality section.
“The speed at which they change the sets in between the dancing is amazing. We have the best guys in the business. No other show does this. We have the best judging panel on television. I’m an NTA award-winner, you know!”
Off screen, Anton is celebrating the publication of his new novel The Ballroom Blitz , which follows the goings-on inside the fictional 1930s Buckingham Hotel in London. He admits he would like to see his books turned into a television series, but says his own memoir will never be written.
“I would love my book to be dramatised as I think it looks amazing and brilliant. But there is no chance of an autobiography,” he says. “I might do one when I’m 90 but not before. I don’t think I’m that interesting. I’ve lived it and I don’t want to have to read it. It is only ever going to be 300 words.
“I don’t like talking about me. I was on stage once with Eartha Kitt. I mean, come on, who wants to talk about me? My book would be about all the people I have met, it would not be about me. I love what I do and I just want to keep doing it and doing it better. I want to do more of that.”
