Kevin Clifton claims it must be 'horrible' for Anton Du Beke in new role as Strictly judge
KEVIN CLIFTON, a former Strictly Come Dancing pro, has said it must be "horrible" for Anton Du Beke to be a judge on the BBC ballroom dancing show, just days after the latter made his second appearance on the panel.
Strictly: Kevin says Anton Du Beke did 'great' as a judge
Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Kevin Clifton has been sharing his thoughts on the new series of the programme, for the latest instalment of his self-titled podcast. The professional dancer said it must be tough for his former co-star Anton Du Beke to step in as a judge and adjudicate his friends and colleagues.
The 54-year-old dancer stepped up to the judging podium for the past two weeks, to replace Motsi Mabuse, who was in quarantine at home following a last minute trip home to Germany.
During a chat with his sister Joanne Clifton and Burn The Floor star Lauren Oakley, Kevin said the ballroom star reminded him of previous head judge Len Goodman.
He went on to say that he did a “great job” but it must have been “horrible” to be in the position of critiquing his peers.
“I thought he did a really good job, I was really pleased for him,” the dancer said to his co-stars.
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He continued: “It must’ve been tough standing there, he’s just done a whole month of rehearsals and recordings of pro numbers with them all, and he’s been in the competition with them.
“It’s like they’re all his mates and he knows what they are going through, and he knows how relentless it is.
“And then they stand in front of him as a mate and they’ll be willing him to say nice things, so if he has to say something bad, it must be horrible.”
The trio also agreed that he came across very “warm” and they enjoyed seeing him share his ballroom knowledge.
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Joanne, who also appeared in the dancing competition from 2014 - 2016, said: “You’ve got Craig [Revel-Horwood] and Bruno [Tonioli] looking for different things, and you’ve got Motsi and Shirley [Ballas] who are mainly Latin, I actually enjoyed Anton talking specifically about ballroom things going on.
“It gives it extra flavour,” Kevin added.
Anton said he was “thrilled” to be asked to step in for Motsi, while talking to Steph McGovern on Packed Lunch.
He said the most difficult bit was keeping his answers concise.