Anton Du Beke55, performed on Saturday night Strictly Come Dancing since the show’s inception in 2004. During his tour, however, the star revealed his career struggles as he got older, after being pushed back to accommodate dancers wearing vests with “tattoos”.
He said: “In the beginning I would be in the front. It would be nice.
“We had so-called grids where people stood in position on the floor and then you suddenly went back one row.
“Then they started putting you in the corners and then the tattoos started coming and everyone with tattoos was in front and wearing a vest.
“It got to the point where I was back here. I was so far back at the end that I was chatting with Lance in the orchestra.”
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“In the end I didn’t mind not doing the group dances.
“If I have to dance with someone again, we hope not, I’ll tattoo my routine on my chest.
“It seems like everyone is tattooed these days. If you want to be on Strictly Come Dancing, you have to have a tattoo.”
Anton joined Strictly when the show started in 2004 and stayed on as a professional dancer until 2021, with some iconic moments such as partnering with Ann Widdecombe.
Strictly Come Dancing has already announced the professional dancers for the 2022 series, and Anton is missing from the list.
During his 18 years as a professional dancer with the show, he never won and took home the famous Glitterball Trophy.
Current rumors claim that both Anton and Bruno could return as judges for the new series, or Anton could even host part of the show himself. Since the 2021 series, two professional dancers have left the show,
Oti Mabuse, who has gone on to host the ITV dating show Romeo and Duet, and Aljaz Skorjanec have both quit the show.
Anton himself has announced that he will appear in the ITV show Cooking with the Stars, which will air later this year.
During his An Audience With… tour, Anton said: “Most of my partners couldn’t keep up with the time anyway.
“I used to just let them go and eventually I followed them towards the end.
“Sometimes during the show you get some songs and you watch the dance and you think, ‘These two aren’t getting together.'”
