He may be the king of ballroom on Strictly Come Dancing, so it's no wonder Anton du Beke's wife is a huge fan of his fancy footwork. During the Strictly final press conference earlier this week, the professional dancer revealed that his spouse absolutely adores his comic duet he once performed with Gary Avis from the Royal Ballet. "I have danced with fellas a lot," he explained when asked about his thoughts on same-sex partners. "I did a show once and I danced with a guy called Gary Avis from the Royal Ballet, and he's an absolute beauty."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Strictly star pictured with wife Hannah Summers
"He used to dance with Darcy [Bussell] back in the day," the pro dancer elaborated. "And we did a hat and cane number in the show and my wife was in the audience - she still says to this day that it was one of the best numbers I've ever done, ever." Anton was responding to his thoughts on having a male celebrity next year, to which he said: "Well we [professional dancers] wouldn't be asking for a same-sex partner, that's not for us to decide. It's up to the producers to decide, regarding whether we have a couple of the same sex."
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"For me it's not even a thing, and I know Oti [Mabuse] and Amy [Dowden] feel exactly the same," he added. "It's not even a thing, we just dance. It's essentially how you choreograph it really. So we're just going to choreograph numbers. If we dance with a fella, we dance with a fella. If we dance with a dame, we dance with a dame - it's not a thing."
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Meanwhile, Anton is preparing for his first ever final with his latest celebrity dance partner, EastEnders actress Emma Barton. "This is beyond exciting. I can't even tell you what that feels like," he remarked. "Like Emma, I'm a huge Strictly Come Dancing fan, that's why I do it – I love it! The thing I love more than anything else is to be dancing with a fan of the show, and Emma is a superfan so for Emma to experience the whole journey and then take me along with her has just been wonderful. Seeing Emma develop and grow as a dancer, as a performer [has been amazing]."
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Looking ahead to the final on Saturday night, Anton added: "For me the whole experience has been wonderful but most of all, I've enjoyed Emma's love of doing the show. That's been the best thing for me really. So to make the final is just a joy."
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