05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Anton Du Beke confronts ex Strictly partner over harsh response to career change-up
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Anton Du Beke seemingly wasn't expecting such criticism from his former Strictly Come Dancing partner, Judy Murray, when he sought advice from her about one of his novels. The 58-year-old, who rose to fame as a dancer on the BBC show, switched up his career in 2018 when he released his debut book One Enchanted Evening.
When he later worked on a separate novel, he reached out to self-professed "grammar and spelling geek" Judy to proofread what he had written so far.
In response, she sent him back notes about what he could improve on, which included grammatical errors.
Seemingly caught off guard by her thorough feedback, Judy recalled how Anton called her up and half-jokingly queried why she couldn't have been more complimentary.
As reported by the Western Mail, she remembered: "He phoned me and said, 'Could you not just have said, 'Well done, Anton. That was brilliant?'".
In retort, Judy humorously reminded him that he had requested her honest opinion, which she provided.
The mother-of-two went on to reveal that it was Anton who encouraged her to pen her own 2023 novel, The Wild Card, based on her experiences in the world of tennis.
The pair struck up a friendship when they were paired together on the BBC programme in 2014.
Judy managed an eight-week run in the competition, before losing out in a dance-off against actress Sunetra Sarker at Blackpool.
Discussing her exit with host Tess Daly at the time, the mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray thanked Anton for his support.
She commented: "He is great fun to be around and has made my Strictly experience very, very special."
Judy has also previously told Good Housekeeping Magazine that participating in the show allowed her to reveal a different side to the public.
She elaborated: "[Strictly] helped a lot because, up until that point, you get used to seeing horrible pictures of yourself in the paper portraying you as grotesque or aggressive.
"It helped me to stop feeling that everyone thought I was a nightmare pushy mother."
Anton has similarly also shown fans a different side to him in recent years by venturing into writing.
The Strictly judge previously told fans that the inspiration behind him becoming an author, was through stories he heard in the world of dance.
At the Henley Literary Festival, he was quoted by The Independent as saying: "I always wanted to do stories and dancing was a great avenue to tell stories through. Its just kind of the story and the narrative is everything."
Meanwhile, Anton is also gearing up to return to the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel later this year, alongside Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood.
Names of the celebrity contestants signed up for the upcoming series are expected to be revealed from next month.
