Dad chose to drink and be violent.. but you carry on

Strictly judge on father he feared

- NICOLA METHVEN

ANTON Du Beke has lifted the lid on living with a violent drunken father as a younger man, including a terrible secret he kept from his adoring Strictly fans for years.

The 57-year-old revealed for the first time he was once stabbed by alcoholic Hungarian Antal because he hated the fact he was a dancer.

The vicious assault put Anton in hospital for three days. But he insisted the last thing he wants is sympathy and told how he just got on with life, despite the terror of living with a dad he feared.

Speaking to Kate Garraway for the new series of ITV's Life Stories, Anton says: "I got stabbed in the leg and in the stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day. It was idiotic. An idiotic situation.

"I remember walking out of the house to walk up to the hospital, holding my leg, and a police car drove past and I waved him down.

"And I said, 'He's in there with a knife. Anyway they carted him off and I ended up in hospital for three or four days."

Anton tells Kate his father's violence was only towards him, rather than mum Conchita or sister Veronica, because he was "a young man".

He adds: "You've got an alcoholic father and a situation where, if you're in the house and he's drinking, you end up with the fights and stuff. You'd move rooms to get away from it and he'd follow you in and then the violence starts.

"I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me as everything was about moving forwards. He chose to drink and be violent.

"It's just life, you just carry on."

Anton, born Tony Beke and who grew up on a council estate in Sevenoaks, Kent, tells Garraway he has never spoken about what happened before.