BBC Strictly Come Dancing star forced to take up 'normal job' working in bakery

A BBC Strictly Come Dancing star was forced to take up a normal job to make ends meet before he became a household name. BBC judge Anton du Beke is one of four judges used by the show, having been a pro dancer on the series for years.

Anton sits beside Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and also Motsi Mabuse each and every Saturday night. But before becoming a household name, he worked a regular 9 to 5 job.

After leaving school at 16, Anton spent all his spare time and money on dance lessons, taking on various jobs to make ends meet, including working in a bakery and washing up. "I've had tough times," he recalls. "You're never sure whether you're doing the right thing. You've got no money, no proper job. I invested everything in becoming a dancer."

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Appearing on Kate Garraway's ITV Life Stories previously, Anton revealed that he was once stabbed by his father and had to spend three days in hospital. The 58-year-old dancer said that his father stabbed him in the leg and stomach on Boxing Day at their family home in Kent.

Speaking of the incident, Du Beke said: “I got stabbed in the leg and in the stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day and it was 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 them 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. My only concern was getting back into the studio and dancing and the embarrassment of it.” Du Beke grew up on a council estate in Sevenoaks, Kent. He discovered his love of dancing after seeing his sister perform at a local studio.