Anton Du Beke says father’s stabbing does not define him

Anton Du Beke says his father stabbed him in the leg and stomach when he was in his mid-twenties, an episode the Strictly Come Dancing judge says he does not consider the defining moment of his life. Du Beke recounts the attack in his memoir, Steps in Time: The Moments That Made Me, and in an interview. He said it happened on Boxing Day while he was speaking by telephone to his dance teacher. He managed to get away and was taken to hospital, where he spent four days recovering. He said his father was taken away by police and that he never saw him again after the stabbing. Du Beke said he did not know whether his father faced charges. He also said he concealed what had happened from people around him, telling them he had torn a hamstring. Du Beke has said he does not want the assault to define him or prompt sympathy. In the memoir, he describes it as not the defining moment of his life. He has also said he tries not to spend much time thinking about his father and regards the incident as part of his past rather than something that governs his present. His father died in 2001, Du Beke said. He recalled receiving a phone call with the news and responding briefly, saying he had...