Biography

Best known for starring in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing, Anton Du Beke has made ballroom queens of celebrities Lesley Garrett CBE, Esther Rantzen OBE, Patsy Palmer, Jan Ravens, Kate Garraway and most recently Gillian Taylforth on the hit TV series.

Witty, charismatic and a natural entertainer, Anton’s skills in front of an audience extend far beyond his exceptional ballroom talents. That’s not to underestimate his national and international achievements which he and his professional partner Erin Boag have collected over the twelve years they have worked together.

Anton is now the well known presenter for the popular daytime BBC One series Step up to the Plate and he has also made many guest appearances on BBC One’s Celebrity Star Spell, Test The Nation, Celebrity The Weakest Link, Question of Sport Christmas Special, Graham Norton’s Big Finish, Who Wants to be a Millionaire Christmas Celebrity Special, Rob Brydon’s ‘Annually Retentive’ and ITV1’s Loose Women and GMTV. In 2007 he competed in the new BBC Two series Underdogs and was a featured coach and choreographer in the new Brian Conley series Let Me Entertain You. He has appeared live in concert with Claire Sweeney and Bonnie Langford and has also presented several shows on BBC Radio Oxford.

Anton teamed up with Lesley Garrett once again in 2004, for a gala concert in Leeds, broadcast on BBC Two also starring Ruthie Henshall and Michael McCarthy. In 2006, he choreographed and took part in BBC One’s live Dancing in the Streets and he was also part of the BBC Two drama documentary King of Waltzes and was a guest presenter on the BBC One’s live daytime show City Hospital.

Having danced since he was 14 years old, Anton has collected a number of worldwide and British awards and achievements in Ballroom Dancing. He has also trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz and modern theatre dance. Anton and Erin are the theatre choreographers for the hit live show Simply Ballroom and made a special guest appearance in a gala performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2006. The show has subsequently been filmed for DVD by Universal Pictures.

In 2007 Anton’s Dance Class was published by Kyle Cathie Ltd, a step by step guide to all the Ballroom and Latin dances written and created by Anton and featuring Erin Boag and Flavia Cacace. In early 2008, Anton performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and presented the BBC Radio Nottingham’s Annual Family Concert. He returned to Strictly Come Dancing last autumn alongside Step up to the Plate and a new show for BBC One, Hole in the Wall as one of the team captains alongside Darren Gough and host Dale Winton. In January 2009 he and Erin began an outstandingly successful nation-wide tour of dance and music; Anton and Erin – Cheek to Cheek which continues in March and in April goes to the London Coliseum.

3rd Feb 2009