'We don't know what's going on': Anton Du Beke refuses to confirm return to Strictly Come Dancing after Brendan Cole exit

The star said his role on the show was still in 'discussion'
Return unconfirmed: Anton Du Beke has revealed the Strictly pros 'don't know what's going on' in the wake of Brendan Cole's exit
ITV
Aime Grant Cumberbatch7 February 2018

Anton Du Beke has refused to confirm whether he will return for another series of Strictly Come Dancing in the wake of Brendan Cole's exit from the show, revealing that the professional dancers "don't really know what's going on".

In an interview on ITV chat show Lorraine, Du Beke hinted that he had been invited back but that his role on the show was still in the "discussion" stage.

"When you come to the end of a run, with us it's a year by year thing, you finish a series, huge success all being well and then the beginning of the following year you get the phone call," he said.

"You can never take it for granted. We don't really know what's going on. The way it works is that they call everybody at the same time and then the discussions start, the one thing you do know immediately is whether you are not going to be asked back.

"It's a sort of scenario where we get invited to come back and then there's a contractual discussion."

Host Lorraine Kelly commented: "If Strictly don't have you back, they are crazy."

The professional dancer also admitted he was "heartbroken" by the news of Cole's departure which wasalso announced in an interview on Lorraine.

"I was watching the show actually at home and it was one of the saddest things I have ever seen on TV. I was heartbroken for him, for me, because I'm going to miss him enormously," he said.

"There's something about being with Brendan on the show, because we were there from the beginning, was lovely. We were brothers in arms."

Strictly Come Dancing 2017 - In pictures

1/14

When asked if he thought Cole has future on the US version of the ballroom show, Dancing with the Stars alongside former judge Len Goodman, Du Beke said: "He certainly could do it."

"He's very able to, he's a big personality. He could whizz over there. He'd be an asset to any show. If he went and did dancing with the stars it would be a better show for it."

Lorraine continues weekdays at 8.30am on ITV.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in