Anton Du Beke: I sometimes look in the mirror and wonder what’s happened to my face

Anton Du Beke has revealed the most common remark made when he’s recognised in public is how surprisingly youthful he looks.

“My favourite comment of all time is, ‘Oh, you look much younger in real life!” says the Strictly Come Dancing judge who turns 60 in July.

Although he jokes he is “a bit depressed” about the upcoming milestone – “Only because I have no idea how it happened so quickly. In my head I’m only 35. I’ve turned 35, blinked twice and suddenly it says 60 on my passport. And I don’t understand how we got there.”

Du Beke, who sits on the judging panel for the Saturday night BBC One dance show alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas, adds: “I don’t know what 60 is supposed to feel like but I don’t feel 60.

“And sometimes I look in the mirror and go, ‘What’s happened to my face? My chops! They’re hanging down’.”

A dad of eight-year-old twins with wife Hannah Summers, Du Beke says fatherhood, as well as continuing to dance and sing on tour (Anton Du Beke at the Musicals tour runs until mid November) helps keep him active.

“I’m very lucky,” says the dancer and writer – who has just published his latest novel, The Winter Ball.

“I’ve had what I call ‘a lucky body’ throughout my life. When I was competing back in the day, lots of people had to retire because of injuries – the back’s gone, the knees don’t work like they should. I’ve never had any of those problems, I’ve been very fortunate with my body. But I’ve always looked after it.

“I’ve always stayed in shape, I’ve never in my life been out of shape. I’ve always eaten well, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I’m not a pizza or burger man.

“The big adjustment I’ve made over the last few years – and this comes from knowledge, really, information – is we’ve got to get rid of ultra-processed food. So I’ve reduced all that from my diet – that’s made a huge difference as well.”

Nicknamed ‘The King of Ballroom’, Du Beke rose to prominence in the dance world with partner Erin Boag (also a former Strictly professional), winning many national and international titles. He joined the hit show as a professional dancer, paired with celebrity partners – including Lesley Garrett, Ann Widdecombe and Judy Murray – for the very first series in 2004, before joining the judging panel in 2021.

“I hear people say things like, ‘I don’t want to be defined by [dancing], and I don’t mind being defined as a dancer because it’s been my life – and still is my life. I started doing it when I was about 13. I’ve given myself to it. It’s something I embodied, being a dancer, and it shapes you, because everything you do is geared towards being better at [it].

“Being a writer, for me, is an extension of it, really.”

Du Beke published his first novel, One Enchanted Evening, in 2018, after previously publishing a non-fiction on ballroom dancing in 2012. But it was his first novel that launched a series set in the fictional Buckingham Hotel in the 1930s, and now into the 1940s – The Winter Ball is the eighth in the saga.

“It’s a different medium to do the same thing, to tell a story, to connect with an audience. To me they [dancing and writing] connect to the same thing,” explains Du Beke.

“When I’m on stage, singing, or whatever I’m doing, one thing that’s really important to me is that they are the same quality. I just want people to go, ‘This is a fabulous book, I had no idea he danced’.

“I don’t want the audience to think I’m just turning a book out, [saying] ‘Look at me, I’m a dancer, but I’ve written a book’ – forget the fact I’ve danced.”

Set in London, with specific interest in the hotel’s exclusive Grand Ballroom, the books follow the lives of the hotel staff and wealthy guests, dancers and high society figures in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Winter Ball sees ongoing protagonist the ‘King of the Ballroom’ Raymond de Guise rally dancers for the event of the season, amidst a backdrop of the Second World War. De Guise welcomes three American officials, with the knowledge that one is a traitor – it’s a story of secrets, drama and heartbreak, with a festive twist.

Du Beke says he’s “so proud” of the books. “I think everyone’s as invested in the characters as I am, which is the most exciting part, really. That’s my love of these novels – they’re character-driven.”

Although it is a continuity of characters and location, each book is a standalone story too. “That was very important to me in doing a continuous saga, that you could pick them up at any stage and feel completely part of it,” he says.

In a continuation like this, of course, you “can’t keep everybody”, he notes. “Book eight, we’re now into 1,200 pages and 47 characters, so we have to kill people off, which was devastating to me, and then introduce new characters.”

The period of time is “of huge interest” to Du Beke. “I loved the idea of London at that time, but also the undercurrent of what was going on in Europe. Because although the war didn’t start for us until 1939, it already sort of started in Europe, [so] the unease walking down the streets of London, I find that time really fascinating.

“Everything about that era, I love the music of that time,” he says. “It was the beginnings of jazz and swing. The things of the Thirties are almost 100 years old now, and still resonate with us.”

And dance played a huge part too. The Lindy Hop was introduced in the 1930s, “which changed the landscape [of dance]” explains Du Beke, it was “the precursor to the jitterbug, which was the precursor of the jive that we are familiar with now. This was an extraordinary form of dancing. The Lindy Hop was this crazy, open-style dance, where you listed your partner and threw her around and over the back.”

Du Beke’s background as a professional dancer on Strictly for 16 years has helped in his role as a judge, he says. “I do have the advantage of having done it, as my USP, so I understand what’s going on probably a little bit more [for the celebrities] but only through experience. So I don’t know if I have that sort of empathetic angle.

“And people [celebrities] care. I love that they care, that means everything to me, because I care,” he says. “I felt exactly the same way many, many times over the years.”

Du Beke “invariably” feels emotional watching the dances on Saturday nights, he says. “I’m like that these days. I used to be made of granite. Now I’m a big old softie – maybe it’s the children. I’ll well up at the drop of a hat.”

The Winter Ball by Anton Du Beke is published by Orion Fiction, priced £20. Available October 23.