Anton Du Beke says having same-sex couples on Strictly ‘up to the producers’

Anton Du Beke has said it makes no difference to him whether he dances with a man or a woman.

The Strictly Come Dancing stalwart said it is “not a thing” for him and the other professional dancers on the show, adding one of the best dances he ever performed was with another man.

The debate over whether the show should include same-sex pairings has rumbled on for several years now and earlier on in the 2019 series Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima made history with the show’s first individual same-sex dance.

Du Beke, who will compete in the final with EastEnders actress Emma Barton, said: “As regards to whether we will be asking for a same-sex partner, that is not for us to decide, that is up to the producers – but to us as professionals it doesn’t mean anything, this is not a thing for us, because we just dance, that is really it.

“I’ve danced with fellas a lot, some of my best. I did a show once and I danced with a guy called Gary Avis from the Royal Ballet, he’s a beauty, he used to dance with Darcey (Bussell) back in the day.

“We did a hat and cane number in the show and my wife was in the audience and she still says to this day it’s one of the best numbers I’ve ever done, ever.”

He added: “So for me it’s not even a thing for us, we just dance.

“It’s essentially how you choreograph it and we are going to choreograph numbers, if we dance with a fella, we dance with a fella, if we dance with a dame, we dance with a dame, it’s not a thing.”

This will only be the second time Du Beke has competed in a Strictly Come Dancing final despite being part of the show since 2004.

Strictly Come Dancing concludes on BBC One at 7.05pm on Saturday.