Loose Women presenter Ruth Langsford has shown her support for her former Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Anton Du Beke in a post on Instagram.
On Saturday, July 20, Ruth shared a photo of her hugging Anton outside his dressing room, wished him a happy birthday, and called him the “best partner ever” in her supportive post.
“Happy Birthday to the loveliest man and best Partner EVER!,” Ruth wrote about Anton, whom she danced with on the show in 2017, followed by: “Sending you a big birthday squeeze @mrantondubeke.”
Meanwhile, on Anton’s own Instagram page, there were birthday wishes from his wife Hannah, Shirley Ballas and Strictly singer Lance Ellington.
Amid all the recent scandal at Strictly, Anton has been brought into the drama surrounding the BBC show.
He is said to have been named to lawyers Carter Ruck by former celebrity dance partner Laila Rouass, according to The Mirror’s article on Friday 19 July.
It is understood that Laila’s complaint to lawyers follows a remark made by Anton at the time he was paired with Laila on the show in 2009, in which he commented that the star looked like “a P***” after she had been given a spray tan.
He later apologised for the comment, saying: “I must say immediately and categorically that I am not a racist and that I do not use racist language. During the course of rehearsals Laila and I have exchanged a great deal of banter entirely in jest, and two weeks ago there was an occasion when this term was used between the two of us.
“There was no racist intent whatsoever but I accept that it is a term which causes offence and I regret my use of it, which was done without thought or consideration of how others would react. I apologise unreservedly for any offence my actions might have caused.”
At the time, Laila, who has an Indian mother and Moroccan father, accepted Anton’s apology.
“It was a situation which happened that we have moved on from and I accept his apology,” she said.
Following the report about Anton, a BBC spokesperson commented to OK!: “We will not be commenting on individuals or engaging in/with speculation. However, as we have said previously we will always listen if people want to make us aware of something or raise it with us directly and we have appropriate procedures and processes in place to manage this.”
The BBC are also investigating complaints raised about the treatment of celebrities Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott during their time on Strictly last year, where they were paired with Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, respectively.
New measures will now be put in place for the next series of Strictly, following a statement from the BBC on Tuesday 16 July.
“The BBC is today announcing additional steps to strengthen welfare and support on Strictly Come Dancing. Concerns that have arisen in recent months have been fundamentally about training and rehearsals. The actions we announce today are designed to address that.”
Actions will include a celebrity welfare producer and a professionals welfare producer being hired, and a member of Strictly staff being present at all training sessions and rehearsals.
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Source: USA Today
