Anton Du Beke shares stars are making more ‘mistakes’ this year
Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke gave a surprising answer when asked if it had been “tough” to send home broadcasting legend Angela Rippon. The BBC star, who will shortly take to the stage at New Victoria Theatre in Woking to star as Smee in their upcoming pantomime production of Peter Pan, spoke about the Blackpool Week elimination in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk.
Anton, 57, was in agreement with his fellow judges when they sent 79-year-old Angela and her professional partner Kai Widdrington home following the dreaded dance-off. Kai and Angela were in the bottom two with Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell, who are now through to the semi-finals.
Asked if it was a “tough decision” to send Angela home during Blackpool week after she had faced the dance-off multiple times, Anton simply said: “No. It wasn’t, because the other couple were better than them. That’s all there is.”
Quizzed on whether he had felt the decision was quite cut and dry, he confirmed: “It absolutely is, at that point in time… If you were to ask me a question regarding her performance in the main show, that would be one thing.
“But the question you ask about the results show, where there is a direct comparison between them and the other couple… Was it an easy decision? Yes, it was.”
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The judge previously defended Angela following “fix” claims”, as the star faced some backlash after making it so far into the competition.
Speaking to Radio Times’ Jane Garvey, Anton explained he’s never been asked to rig the voting, as she asked: “Angela Rippon was always going to get to Blackpool, wasn’t she?”
Anton hit back: “No, are you mad? No. If she was terrible in week one she’d have been first to go, probably. It doesn’t really work that way.”
The star, who joined Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas on the Strictly judging panel in 2021, went on to make a wider point about judging decisions that had been made up to Blackpool Week this series as he spoke to Express.co.uk.
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“Well, they’ve not been that difficult this year funnily enough,” he admitted. “I think you’ll find that… I mean sometimes it’s been a little bit close, but generally, it’s been reasonably clear.”
Anton went on to point out that, ahead of Angela’s departure, all the judges had agreed on every dance-off except for the week before, where head judge Shirley had voted to save Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy instead.
“Every week, apart from one of the dance-offs, all the judges have agreed,” Anton said. “Apart from one week, where Shirley chose to save Krishnan.
“So, from that perspective, it’s been reasonably clear in the dance-off so far,” he added.
As the competition thins out, Anton went on to reveal what will determine the final few couples’ fates.
“You know what it’s all about now? It’s all about what dance you get,” he said.
“They’ve got to a certain level and their technique is refined enough.
“They know how to perform, they’ve done it enough times. So they’ve got the process in their bodies. Now it’s all about the dance.”
Before Anton joined as a judge in 2021, he spent nearly two decades of being a professional dancer on the show since its inception in 2004.
After Nigel Harman and Katya Jones’ exit from the competition last weekend, the following couples will compete in tonight’s semi-final: Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe, Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, and Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell.
You can watch Anton in what he has described as a “magical” pantomime production of Peter Pan at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking between December 8 2023 and January 7 2024. Buy tickets here.
Strictly Come Dancing returns this Saturday at 7.35pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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