Anton Du Beke hasn't spoken to Bruno Tonioli since replacing him on the 'Strictly Come Dancing' judging panel.
Anton Du Beke hasn't spoken to Bruno Tonioli about replacing him on 'Strictly Come Dancing'
The 56-year-old star filled in for Bruno last year due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic but has now taken the slot permanently for the new series, although he is yet to speak to his predecessor who has opted to focus on his work on the US show 'Dancing With the Stars'.
Anton told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "I haven't spoken to him. I haven't spoken to any of the judges.
"It was all down to circumstance really. The situation with flying still isn't ideal - we all know how many flights are being cancelled - and Bruno said to the BBC, 'Listen, I can't do both shows. Thank you very much and good luck.'"
Anton was proud of his stint as a judge last year but suggested that he would have willingly moved aside and returned to the dance floor if Tonioli wanted to come back.
He said: "I always knew it could be taken away, however good I was on the judging panel. But I took the same attitude as I did when I was competing, which is that I can only control what I do.
"Ballroom dancing is not first past the post — it is subjective, and you’re being adjudicated.
“So it doesn’t matter how well you thought you did. If your number doesn’t get called, there is nothing you can do.
"All you can do is be ready and do your best. I was pleased with my performance on the show."
Anton, who has featured in every series of 'Strictly' since it launched in 2004, continued: "But I was only stepping in. If Bruno had wanted to come back, the bosses couldn’t say to him, ‘We don’t want you’.
"If it had been the other way around and that had happened to me, I would have been really disappointed.
"So it would have been fair enough. It was his job in the first place, and I’d have gone back to dancing."
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