Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke, 53, and Emma Barton, 42, were close to winning the Glitterball trophy after a string of impressive performances on the show last year. Behind-the-scenes, Anton said he was surprised by the way Emma repeated his choreography back to him in rehearsals.
Anton joined Matt Tebbutt on his Saturday Kitchen show last weekend to promote his book, but swiftly got onto the topic of Strictly Come Dancing.
The show’s wine expert Helen McGinn highlighted how far he got in the competition with Emma, who he went on to praise.
At first, he joked he was “convinced it was a draw” between the pair and winners Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse.
He then said of his former dance partner: “Emma was a delight, she was amazing and talented and everything you want her to be, hardworking.
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“She was also a massive fan of the show, which was lovely because she brought in all that enthusiasm.
“I was delighted for her to get all the way to the final because she got the whole experience.”
Recalling a moment in training with the actress, he went on to say: “She did something that I wasn’t really used to.
“She would repeat back to me choreography that I had shown her and she would repeat it back to me in a way that I had shown it to her.”(sic)
“I thought it was a great series, it just goes from strength to strength,” he added.
The veteran dancer went on to say he was looking forward to returning to the show this year, but admitted he was unsure if it will be going ahead as the coronavirus continues to spread.
Many shows have been cancelled due to thousands of people contracting the disease worldwide.
The UK Government has urged people to social distance and stay at home in a bid to combat the virus.
