Ruth Langsford had the time of her life when she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, but before agreeing to take part in the BBC One dance show, there was someone she had to check with first. During Tuesday's Loose Women, the mum-of-one revealed that it was vital to her that her son Jack, 15, didn’t mind her appearing on the show, and that she had sat down with him and husband Eamonn Holmes to put the idea to them. She explained: "I sat down with Jack and Eamonn and said to Jack that I will be gone early in the morning - which is normal when I work on TV - but then I won't be home until 9." She added: "I might be a bit tired and grumpy – or more tired and grumpy than usual!"
Ruth Langsford took part in the 2017 Strictly with Anton Du Beke
Ruth then told the panel: "If Jack had said that he didn’t like the sound of it then I wouldn’t have done it," explaining that Eamonn "understood the industry" so was fine with it. Luckily for Ruth, Jack agreed, and often went along to the live show to watch his mum dance with Anton Du Beke. However, there was one thing that Jack didn’t like seeing. Ruth joked that during her time on Strictly, her son had been slighting embarrassed at his mum's sultry dance moves. She told The Mirror that Jack had told her after one of her dances: "Bet I'll get some comments about that at school on Monday."
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Ruth wanted to make sure her son Jack was okay with her going on the show
Ruth and Anton came ninth when they took part in Strictly, and Ruth was Anton's biggest cheerleader when he competed in the show last year alongside Susannah Constantine. The pair were the first to leave the competition, but Ruth had spoken to Susannah before the series started to wish her good luck and to give her advice.
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During her time on Strictly, Ruth had spoken about how much she enjoyed dancing with Anton during an interview with HELLO!. Describing 52-year-old Anton as "a fabulous dancer and a dream partner", Ruth said: "Anton is so funny. He reminds me a lot of my husband in terms of banter. We share a similar sense of humour, which is why I’m so thrilled he’s my partner. Anton’s a good teacher and we work hard, but he makes everything so much fun. He’s intuitive, too. He knows instinctively when I’m tired or struggling or about to cry. That’s when he’ll stop and say, ‘Let’s go and get a cup of tea.’ So he senses what I need, when I need it. He’s a fabulous dancer and a dream partner."
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