Anton Du Beke fight tears as he admits 'alcoholic' father 'stabbed' him during 'violent' childhood
Anton Du Beke fights tears as he opens up about his childhood
ITV
After two decades as part of the Strictly Come Dancing family, Anton Du Beke has become a household name up and down the country.
However, the usually upbeat and smiley dancer has now opened up in a candid conversation with Kate Garraway about his "violent" childhood before he found fame.
Du Beke was born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father and lived on a council estate in Sevenoaks.
After he decided to pursue dancing as a passion, it soon became clear that his father Antal wasn't as encouraging as his mother.
Du Beke's father was gripped by alcoholism when the dancer was a youngster and it resulted in violent outbursts against him.
The Strictly star explained: "The alcoholism and the violence (was) towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose.
Anton Du Beke speaks to Kate Garraway on her ITV show
ITV
"You've got an alcoholic father and a situation where if you're in the house (and he's) drinking then you end up with the fights and stuff.
"You'd move room to get away from all of it and then he follows you in and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one evening.
"I ended up in hospital for three days," Du Beke told Garraway who urged him to divulge further about the ordeal.
After taking a deep breath and fighting back tears, Du Beke revealed for the first time: "I got stabbed, I've never said this out loud before."
Du Beke was injured in his leg and left the house soon after the incident where he was able to attract the attention of a passing police car.
During the episode of Kate Garraway's Life Stories, Du Beke's sister Veronica Richards also opened up on her father's attitude towards Du Beke's passion for dance
"He used to call Anton gay and he took a turn against him," Richards said. "My dad's drinking affected his mood - he was mean, he wasn't a nice person when he was drunk.
"My dad was drinking his money down the toilet, so what Mum did was work nights in a nursing home. So she wasn't there to protect us," she candidly admitted.
Du Beke's father never faced prison time for the knife attack and divorced his wife soon after. He died in 2001.
The dancer refused to attend his dad's funeral and harbours no regrets in doing so.
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Anton Du Beke has appeared in Strictly for 20 years
PA
"I don't think about him. I never give him a second thought." Du Beke admitted. "It does not influence me at all.
"I hate the thought that anything like that defines you. I hate 'Woe is me'. My motivation to do what I did wasn't because of that, it's because I wanted to do it."
After a preview clip from the interview was aired on ITV's Good Morning Britain, fans were quick to praise Du Beke for his candor.
One fan said on Twitter: "I’m heartbroken that Anton Du Beke went through this. There are many who carry horrors of abuse in their life, from the past, or even which they live currently... Opening up about can be a form of healing. I wish Anton peace."
While a second added: "I had read Anton had an abusive father but this is truly shocking. I grew up with a violent abusive mother so I can highly empathise."
And a third weighed in: "So courageous of @TheAntonDuBeke to speak out about violent domestic abuse, and especially when the memories of it are still raw."
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