Kate Garraway reveals Anton Du Beke’s wife Hannah ‘didn’t know’ that he was stabbed by his alcoholic father as she reflects on his ‘incredibly brave’ Life Stories interview
Kate Garraway has revealed that Anton Du Beke’s wife Hannah ‘didn’t know’ that he was stabbed by his alcoholic father as a child.
Joining The One Show on Wednesday, the presenter, 56, reflected on her heartbreaking interview with the Strictly Come Dancing star ahead of her ITV show, Life Stories.
In a frank and tearful admission, set to air this week, Anton explained how he spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed in the stomach and the leg by his father on Boxing Day while he was living at the family home in Kent.
Kate praised the dancer for his ‘incredible bravery’ as he discussed his childhood abuse for the first time on the programme.
She said: ‘[His father] was cleared of the charges of stabbing Anton, of wounding, but the good thing now, his family and lovely wife Hannah didn’t know, his in-laws didn’t know.’
Reflecting: Kate Garraway, 56, revealed that Anton Du Beke’s wife Hannah ‘didn’t know’ that he was stabbed by his alcoholic father as a child as she spoke on The One Show on Wednesday
Awful: In a frank and tearful admission, set to air this week, Anton explained how he spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed in the stomach and the leg by his father on Boxing Day (pictured on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories)
Kate continued: ‘He didn’t want to make it what he was about, but I think he got to the point where he thinks he shouldn’t feel any shame.
‘I don’t want to deny it, because I know people are going through this, and I know people are scared by what they’re going through.
‘I think he’s incredibly brave. I’m really proud of him and I think it will be an extraordinary watch tonight…Its so unexpected, it took everyone’s breath away.
‘He’s just very brave and wonderful, and I hope people react to it like that, I think he wants to feel he’s sharing some good and not just for the sake of it.’
Born to a Spanish mother and Hungarian father, the Strictly judge lived on a council estate in Sevenoaks, and discovered his flair for dancing after picking his sister up from the local studio. Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, ‘took a turn’ against Du Beke as alcoholism gripped him.
Du Beke, 57, told the ITV show: ‘The alcoholism and the violence…(it was) towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose.
‘… You’ve got an alcoholic father and a situation where if you’re in the house (he’s) drinking 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 ended up in hospital for three days.’
Struggling to hold back tears, he said: ‘I got stabbed, I’ve never said this out loud before.’
Anton recalled how he waved down a police car as he limped to hospital after his father attacked him.
He added: ‘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 him down and I said, ‘He’s in there with a knife’.’
Anton’s sister Veronica Richards also appeared on the show and told how Antal was againt his son’s dreams of becoming a dancer.
She said: ‘He used to call Anton gay and he took a turn against him. My dad’s drinking affected his mood – he was mean, he wasn’t a nice person when he was drunk.
‘My dad was drinking his money down the toilet, so what Mum did was work nights in a nursing home. So she wasn’t there to protect us.’
Antal, who was from Hungary, was cleared by police over the knife attack and later divorced Anton’s mother, Spanish-born Ascension. Anton eventually moved out of the family home and changed his name from Anthony Beke to Anton Du Beke.
Interview: Speaking on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories, Anton said: ‘It came to a head one evening. I ended up in hospital for three days. I got stabbed in the leg and the stomach’
Upsetting: Anton’s sister Veronica Richards also appeared on the show and told how their dad Antal was against his son’s dreams of becoming a dancer
Family: Anton is now married to his wife Hannah who he shares twins George and Henrietta, six
He explained: ‘I wanted a new start and a new beginning and I wanted to leave what went before behind and then move on.
‘I just wanted to be me. I started with Anton Du Beke and I went from there really.’
Antal died in 2001 and Anton chose not to attend his funeral, however the star remains close with his mother and sister.
He said: ‘I don’t think about him. I never give him a second thought. It does not influence me at all. I hate the thought that anything like that defines you. I hate ‘Woe is me’. My motivation to do what I did wasn’t because of that, it’s because I wanted to do it. And there’s only one way to do it, which is to be the best at it.’
Kate Garraway’s Life Stories airs Wednesday on ITV1 at 9pm.
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