Anton Du Beke reveals his father stabbed him in stomach on Boxing Day on Kate Garraway’s life stories

Strictly Come Dancing legend Anton Du Beke has revealed some of the hardships he’s faced in his life so far. The 57-year-old sat down with Kate Garraway on Kate Garraway’s life stories on Wednesday night (August 2).

Anton made some shocking revelations on the show, including when he spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed in the stomach and the leg by his father on Boxing Day while he was living at the family home in Kent.

It was the first time Anton has spoken about the shocking incident. He grew up  on a council estate in Sevenoaks, with a Spanish mother and Hungarian father. Whilst he was discovering his love for dancing, alcoholism gripped his father.

On ITV’s Kate Garraway’s life stories, he said: “The alcoholism and the violence…(it was) towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose...

“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. It came to a head one evening, I ended up in hospital for three days....I got stabbed, I’ve never said this out loud before.”

He said he was embarrassed due to the incident, and told people he had a hamstring injury. Garraway said Du Beke’s father was cleared in court of wounding his son and when he died, he did not attend the funeral.

Years later, Anton retired as a seasoned Strictly professional and bagged a job on the judging panel following the departure of Bruno Tonioli in 2021, and has become a firm fan favourite.

He is also a father to five-year-old twins George and Henrietta, whom he shares with his wife Hannah Summers. The pair met 12 years ago in 2011 before getting married six years later in 2017.

On the show, he was full of praise for his family. “No no I’m not [trying to be something different from my father.] I don’t give it a moment’s thought. If I need a role model of how to be a great father I look at my father-in-law. What a guy, what a man, that’s all you need!”