Anton Du Beke insists wife’s ‘unfair’ health ordeal is ‘still not talked about enough’
Anton Du Beke has admitted that he had no idea what endometriosis was, and hadn't even heard of the health issue, before meeting his wife Hannah Summers.
After learning about Hannah's struggles with the condition, the Strictly Come Dancing star, who is appearing on a celebrity special of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? tonight, feels "it's still not talked about enough".
According to the NHS, endometriosis affects a woman when cells similar to those in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other parts of the body; leading to severe period pain, heavy periods, difficulty getting pregnant, and low mood or anxiety.
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The charity Endometriosis UK states that the condition affects around 1.5m women in the UK alone. Anton and his wife Hannah have been open about the fact that they struggled to conceive naturally due to her endometriosis battle, before welcoming their twins George and Henrietta, in 2017, via IVF.
Opening up about his wife's ordeal in a new interview with The Times, Strictly judge Anton confessed: "Before I met my wife, I had never heard of endometriosis. It potentially stops women from having children. It’s still not talked about enough.
"My wife seemed like a person naturally aligned to motherhood, yet a freak of nature had decreed that she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. That always seemed mightily unfair to me. Now, she is the most incredible mother."
Anton, 58, married marketing executive Hannah five years after they first met at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey in 2012. The professional dancer previously told Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast that Hannah's predicament had left him struggling to "understand the universe".
He explained: "I knew I wanted to be with her, I saw her with her nephews. She's so kind and so caring, I just couldn't understand the universe. And whoever is upstairs, if anyone's upstairs, looking down and going 'you are the most perfect person to have children, but I'm not going to let you have any children because I'm going to give you this'.
"And I'm going to say 'you're going to have this endometriosis, and you're going to suffer with this all of your life, chronically, and I'm not going to let you have any children.'
"I thought that was peculiar, cruel, and inexplicable and unforgivable. And if ever I go up to somewhere and meet this person I would say 'I think you're not OK with decisions like this, this doesn't make any sense to me."
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity Special airs tonight at 8pm on ITV and ITVX.