Anton Du Beke has officially thrown his hat into the ring to replace Darcey Bussell as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
Anton, who has been a professional dancer on the BBC ballroom show since it started in 2004, has said he wishes he could “make the decision for” his bosses to promote him to the panel.
Speaking on Graham Norton’s Radio 2 show, he said: “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 added: “I wish I could make the decision for them, but if I could do that I’d have made the final 12 times.”
Anton previously made a play for a judging role in 2017, when he was in the running to replace Len Goodman as Head Judge. However, he eventually lost out to Shirley Ballas.
Darcey announced she was quitting Strictly after seven years on the panel earlier this week, insisting she was leaving on good terms and not because of “any upset or disagreement”.
Anton admitted her statement had come as a shock, as he had “no idea” she was considering leaving - much like how dancer Pasha Kovalev’s exit was also a surprise to him.
He 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.”
Professional dancer Oti Mabuse emerged as the bookies’ early frontrunner to replace Darcey, while former pro Karen Hardy and Dancing With The Stars Australia judge Helen Richey have also been linked to the job.
