Strictly judge Anton Du Beke was stabbed by his father as a child
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Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has recalled being violently injured by his alcoholic father as a kid.
Taking a seat on tonight's (August 2) episode of hard-hitting ITV talkshow Kate Garraway's Life Stories, the ballroom dancer rewinds the clock to the time his leg and stomach were stabbed during a particularly bad altercation at home.
"The alcoholism and the violence... [it was] towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose," he tells the host, whose book The Strength of Love is now just a month away from release.
Related: Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke reacts to becoming permanent judge
"You've got an alcoholic father and a situation where if you're in the house then you end up with the fights and stuff. You'd move room to get away from all of it and then he follows you in and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one evening.
"I got stabbed, I've never said this out loud before," admits Du Beke while fighting back tears.
"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. I waved them down and I said, 'He's in there with a knife'.
He added: "Anyway, they carted him off and I ended up in hospital for three or four days."
Related: Strictly's Anton du Beke "absolutely flattened" by death of co-star Len Goodman
Du Beke also said that his family and friends aren't aware of this painful experience because he never saw any gain from talking about it.
"I'm a forward-looker... I don't like to look back, I like to look forward," he explained.
Garraway added that Du Beke's father was cleared of wounding. The Strictly star also did not attend his father's funeral when he passed away.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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