By Jane Lavender,Molly Dowrick,Nicola Methven

Copyright walesonline

Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton Du Beke has opened up about a traumatic incident from his youth, when his father stabbed him due to his passion for dancing. During an episode of ITV’s Life Stories the dancer shared with presenter Kate Garraway his father was an “alcoholic” during his and his sister Veronica’s childhood, leading to a violent household. As reported by the Mirror, Anton recounted a particularly distressing event where his father stabbed him in the leg and stomach, resulting in a three-day hospital stay. Despite the severity of the situation, a young Anton, eager to return to dancing, concealed the true cause of his injuries from his fellow dancers, claiming he had “pulled a hamstring”. Recounting the incident, Anton said: “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. “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 room to get away from it and he’d follow you in and then the violence starts. My only concern was getting back into the studio and dancing – and the embarrassment of it really. I’d say I’d pulled a hamstring.” Later during his interview, Anton confirms he concealed much of the horrific details of his relationship with his father from his family and friends, saying speaking out about his father’s violence now marks the “first time I’ve mentioned it out loud”. “I’m sure my friends and family don’t even know. It’s the first time I’ve mentioned it out loud. What’s to be gained from talking about it all?” he says. “I can’t really believe I’m talking to you about this, I should have glossed over it and said ‘it was all marvellous dear’!”. Anton’s sister Veronica Richards said their father “hated” Anton’s passion for dancing. Anton originally enrolled in dance classes with mate Jeff Turner as a strategy to meet girls, after the duo had discovered there were 120 girls at a local dance school – but merely four boys. Following several weeks of collecting Veronica from classes, Anton eventually decided to register himself. “My Dad was not so impressed with Anton dancing, he used to call him gay,” Veronica says. “He took a turn against Anton. My dad’s drinking affected his mood, he wasn’t a nice person when he was drunk. He was mean. “Dad put him down – but it made him want to be the best – he’s not Tony Beke who grew up on a council estate, he’s Anton Du Beke, the showman.” Anton, Veronica and their younger brother Stephen were raised by their parents, Hungarian father Antal Xavier Beke and Spanish mother Ascension ‘Conchita’ Lema in a council house on an estate in Sevenoaks, Kent. Money was tight, Conchita had to work two jobs to support the family, leading Anton to eventually leave school so he could work and pay for his dance classes – and avoid his father. After moving out, Anton had no contact with his father and his parents soon divorced. When his father passed away in 2001, Anton didn’t attend his funeral. “I hate the thought that anything like that defines you. I hate ‘woe is me’. I never sought any sense of encouragement from him, my motivation wasn’t because of him, it was because I wanted to do it,” Anton said. “I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because everything was about moving forwards. And I felt sorry for my Mum, that was the thing. It was her husband and she’s working two jobs, she worked every day of her life, and he chose to drink and be violent. It’s just life, you just carry on.” Refusing to harbour resentment about his childhood, Anton later becomes emotional as he pays tribute to his mother for doing everything she could whilst he and his siblings were growing up. “She’s amazing and it makes me sad,” Anton says. “She funded everything. I had nothing. I left school – I didn’t take a single exam. No academic qualifications whatsoever. The mantra in our house was get a job and work. Mum would prop me up financially, I’d turn up with a cheque for my lesson.” When questioned whether his father’s treatment of him has influenced his own parenting style, Anton revealed he doesn’t spare his father’s conduct a second thought, stating: “If I need a role model of how to be a great father I look to my father-in-law. What a guy. What a man. That’s all you need.” During other moments in the episode, Anton opens up about undergoing a hair transplant and quips the “only award” he’s ever won arrived when he ceased dancing and transitioned to judging on Strictly Come Dancing. The show also explores Anton’s journey to fame following his partnership with elite ballroom dancer Erin Boag in the late 1990s – with the professional duo subsequently reaching the World Championships finals not once, not twice but three times. Anton’s wife Hannah and their twins, George and Henrietta, also feature briefly in the episode. Hannah praises her husband as the “kindest, gentlest, most fun individual you are ever likely to meet,” while the children send a heartwarming message to their father, saying: “Hi Daddy, we really love you and we like your dancing a lot.”