Anton Du Beke will be "hugely disappointed" if he's not allowed to dance on 'Strictly Come Dancing' this year, despite his new role.

Anton Du Beke

Anton Du Beke

The 'Strictly' pro dancer-turned-judge - who is replacing Bruno Tonioli on the panel this year, alongside Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas - will largely be critiquing performances in the new series, but he still hopes to get onto the ballroom floor at least once.

Speaking to Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard on ITV's 'Good Morning Morning', he said: "Traditionally the judges don’t get involved in the group dancing unless it’s a Halloween thing or something like that.

"I would be hugely disappointed if I wasn't able to do something. Maybe if someone comes in and does a song I could grab one of the girls the we could do a bit of a dance - I'd love that.

"This is the thing I’m going to miss the most and I know all the pros are getting in the studio now putting the group dances together and I’m already feeling a little bereft of that.”

Former 'Strictly' professional Eric Boag appeared with him on Tuesday's (03.08.21) show, and she joked he's going to be out of the loop with the other pros this year.

Anton quipped: "I’m going to be terrible, I have the option of mixing with all of them or mixing with the judges – it’s not much of a choice."

Former 'Strictly' panellist Arlene recently said Anton was "bound to be a judge" eventually.

The 78-year-old choreographer said: "I love it. He was bound to be a judge at some point."

And his fellow pro dancer Amy Dowden previously admitted she is happy to see him on the panel.

She gushed: "I’m so excited. I thought he was brilliant when he filled in last year, because he had a few weeks where he replaced Motsi.

"I think it's quite nice for us pros because he knows it from our perspective as well and what the celebrity is going through. So I think for us pros that's quite refreshing.

"He obviously knows his knowledge. He lives and breathes 'Strictly'. So yeah, I'm really excited."

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