Anton Du Beke has thrown his hat into the ring to replace Darcey Bussell as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
The Strictly pro dancer discussed Darcey’s bombshell departure on Graham Norton’s Radio 2 show earlier today.
Asked if he’d be up for filling her shoes on the judging panel, Anton’s answer seemed crystal clear.
“Do you know what? I’m certainly qualified. I suspect there’ll be conversations going on, but it’s one of those things… I’m definitely qualified to do it, I’d love to do it, but we’ll have to wait to be asked in the normal way,” he said.
Read more: Anton Du Beke says he’ll hang on until the “bitter end”
Anton continued: “I wish I could make the decision for them, but if I could do that I’d have made the final 12 times.”
He added that both Darcey’s and Strictly pro dancer Pasha Kovalev’s exits seemed “out of the blue.”
The 52-year-old said: “I didn’t know that Pasha was going to leave, that was a bolt out the blue as well. He never mentioned anything last year. Apparently, he never mentioned anything to Ashley [Roberts], his partner, either.
“And Darcey, exactly the same. Absolutely out of the blue,” he said.
https://twitter.com/bbcstrictly/status/1115990068081172480
Read more: Anton Du Beke ‘favourite to replace Darcey Bussell’
He went on to admit his disappointment t not being asked to make a switch from being a dancer after Bruce Forsyth stepped down – and also when Len Goodman left.
Anton told Graham: “If I’m blatantly honest with you, I thought, when Bruce stepped down, ‘Ooh, I’d love to be asked to do that.’
“I wasn’t convinced and I was delighted when they asked Claudia, because Claudia’s part of the family and it’s terrific. From that perspective, I wasn’t massively upset.”
“When Len left, again I thought I would be a good fit for that, but Shirley came in – and again, absolutely wonderful and perfectly normal.”
Anton is a Strictly pro veteran, having danced with celebrities year after year since the BBC series first started airing in 2004.
His partner Susannah Constantine last year saw them become the first couple to be eliminated.
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