Anton Du Beke reveals why Strictly is 'very important' as huge changes take place in television
Anton Du Beke thinks 'Strictly Come Dancing' is "very important" for culture because of the way it unties families.
Anton Du Beke thinks 'Strictly Come Dancing' is "very important" for culture.
The 58-year-old star initially appeared on the BBC Latin and ballroom show as a professional dancer upon its inception in 2004 before becoming a judge in 2021 as a replacement for Bruno Tonioli and explained that the show unites families in a time when scheduled television is starting to die out.
Speaking on the 'White Wine Question Time' podcast, he told former 'Loose Women' anchor Kate Thornton: "People were lovely on the show last year saying things like 'Look after it, protect it.' I think it is a very important show.
"Without getting sort of too prosaic about it really, I think it's an important show culturally.
"Whether you like it or not is not the point.
"Culturally, it brings families together. It's not gonna be long, and I say this with a heavy heart, but it's not going to be long before scheduled television is a thing of the past.
"And the thing about 'Strictly Come Dancing' is that it brings families together."
Anton also noted that the public vote is the "most important" part of the whole show because it wouldn't be an "interesting" format if naturally talented dancers just made it through every week.
He added: "The audiences vote, and that's the most important part of the show to me because, without that, I don't think it works. I think it's really important.
"Otherwise, you're watching a dance competition and that's not very interesting. Look at Tasha [Ghouri] in the last series, absolutely sublime, marvelous, beautiful dancer. Brilliant talent.
"But if we just watched her dance every week, and she wins, and someone else comes second, and we can predict that before she even comes on the floor, well, that's just not very interesting."
