Strictly’s Anton Du Beke admits thinking Susannah Constantine would be hard work
ANTON DU BEKE has revealed he didn’t have high hopes for his Strictly Come Dancing partner Susannah Constantine from the outset, after the pair got the boot from the hit show over the weekend.
The 52-year-old professional dancer, who has never been voted off the show so early in its run, struggled somewhat to remain the gentleman when describing the What Not to Wear presenter’s abilities today.
Speaking to Chris Evans — who described Susannah, 56, as ‘woeful’ on his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show — he said: ‘She’s what I’d like to say is a grower, but sadly not briskly enough, as it turns out.’
Asked by Evans if he thought ‘oh no’ when he first saw Susannah dance, Du Beke said: ‘Well, I thought, “That could take some time.”‘
Anton, who described Constantine as ‘really interesting and lovely’ also damned with faint praise when he said she ‘would have been OK’ if she’d had more time to practice.
But he managed to muster some kind words for poor Susannah too, saying: ‘I thought she did incredibly well, I take my hat off to her, she’s absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed every second of being with her.
‘I’m just sad it’s over.’
In last night’s dance-off, Du Beke and Constantine faced Blue star Lee Ryan and his partner Nadiya Bychkova, after coming bottom of the leaderboard.
The judges chose unanimously to save Lee and Nadiya, which Susannah said was ‘the right choice’.
Du Beke is the only professional dancer to have starred in Strictly since it began. He has never won the show, but has never before been in the first couple to leave either — and now fans want him to be given ‘someone who has more potential’ next year.
‘Feel sorry for Anton,’ wrote one viewer on Twitter, before quipping. ‘But the good news is… he’s going to be given a tree to dance with next year so he can progress further in the competition than he did with Susannah.’
Another person posted: ‘It really isn’t fair that Anton is always partnered with someone who can’t dance. It means he gets voted off quickly and is never on our screens for long. Happens every time.’
And a third called for a ‘petition for #Strictly to finally give Anton a partner that stands a chance’.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One at 6.30pm on Saturday
Author: Metro Reporter
