Can Anton Du Beke lift his curse of the clodhoppers? From Judy Murray to Anne Widdicome, Strictly star has endured some painfully bad partners but has a shot at the Glitterball trophy in tonight’s final
Model Jerry Hall had the ‘posture of a praying mantis’, tennis trainer Judy Murray was a ‘dancing broomstick’, and former MP Ann Widdecombe’s turns on the dancefloor were memorably compared to haemorrhoids — painful and recurring.
These are some of Anton Du Beke’s painfully bad partners over 15 years of Strictly Come Dancing. Tonight in the final, though, Anton has perhaps his best shot at the Glitterball trophy for years, with EastEnders actress Emma Barton as his partner.
But musical theatre veteran Emma is the exception to a roster of ladies with two left feet. So who kicked ‘like a donkey’? And who provoked judge Craig Revel Horwood to produce his ‘1’ paddle?
ALISON BOSHOFF trots through the history of Du Beke’s Desperate Dance Divas …
Anton’s outings with the former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe brought the house down week after week. A million extra viewers was noted around her performances
24-CARAT CATASTROPHE THAT WAS TELEVISION GOLD
ANN WIDDECOMBE, 2010
Anton’s outings with the former Tory MP brought the house down week after week. A million extra viewers was noted around her performances.
WORST SCORE: 12 points for a Salsa, which saw Ann compared with the Ark Royal on stormy seas.
BEST SCORE: 21 for the Tango. She came out ‘flying’ 15ft in the air on a harness. Craig said: ‘It was light, it was beautiful and then you landed, darling, on the floor, and that’s where the trouble started. I thought it was more like a dancing hippo.’
EXIT: Ann, then 62, hung on until week 10. She was within touching distance of the semi-finals.
TURKEY RATING: 10/10
ESTHER’S GARTER COULDN’T SAVE HER
ESTHER RANTZEN, 2004
The That’s Life presenter, then 64, claimed the show gave her a new lease of life — viewers even got a flash of a lacy garter.
WORST SCORE: Her Tango was dubbed a ‘dance of disaster’ by Bruno Tonioli and awarded an appalling 16 points.
BEST SCORE: A meagre 24 for her week two waltz was as good as it got.
EXIT: Week three.
TURKEY RATING: 8/10
The That’s Life presenter, then 64, claimed the show gave her a new lease of life — viewers even got a flash of a lacy garter
A DRESSING DOWN
SUSANNAH CONSTANTINE, 2018
The Trinny & Susannah fashion stylist managed two dances before she was kicked off — including a Samba in which Anton emerged from her enormous skirt shaking maracas.
It got 12 points from the judges, with Craig getting out his ‘1’ paddle.
WORST AND BEST SCORE: 12 for the samba.
EXIT: Week two.
TURKEY RATING: 10/10
The Trinny & Susannah fashion stylist Susannah Constantine managed two dances before she was kicked off — including a Samba in which Anton emerged from her enormous skirt shaking maracas
EVEN WORSE THAN JOHN SERGEANT
GILLIAN TAYLFORTH, 2008
The EastEnders actress was booted off at the first opportunity — an achievement in a year that included ‘Dancing Pig’ news pundit John Sergeant.
WORST AND BEST SCORE: 22 for her Foxtrot. Bruno said: ‘Gillian, compared to his previous partners, you’re Ginger Rogers and that is something.’
EXIT: Week two.
TURKEY RATING: 8/10
The EastEnders actress was booted off at the first opportunity — an achievement in a year that included ‘Dancing Pig’ news pundit John Sergeant
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
JUDY MURRAY, 2014
Watching her son Andy at Wimbledon held fewer fears for Judy, who was 55 at the time. During her performances, she seemed rigid with terror. Craig said: ‘I thought you had rigor mortis; you were stiffer than Nelson’s Column.’
WORST SCORE: 18 — three times.
BEST SCORE: 24 for a Viennese Waltz.
EXIT: Week eight.
TURKEY RATING: 8/10
Watching her son Andy at Wimbledon held fewer fears for Judy, who was 55 at the time
A BRIEF FLING WITH DORIEN
LESLEY JOSEPH, 2016
The Birds Of A Feather star, then 71, threw herself into Strictly. Anton said: ‘It’s going to be brilliant. Lesley is tremendous. She picks things up so quickly.’
But it was all over within five weeks. Both of them said that it had been a ‘joy’ to compete together.
WORST SCORE: 23 for the Waltz.
BEST SCORE: 31 for the Charleston.
EXIT: Week five.
TURKEY RATING: 5/10
The Birds Of A Feather star, then 71, threw herself into Strictly. Anton said: ‘It’s going to be brilliant. Lesley is tremendous. She picks things up so quickly’
SPATS AND A WALK-OUT
JAN RAVENS, 2006
Impressionist Jan left a practice session early in tears because she thought that Anton was laughing at her. When Jan was finally ejected she raged at the judges: ‘I hope you are happy now!’
WORST SCORE: 18 for her Jive.
BEST SCORE: 25 for her Viennese Waltz.
EXIT: Week five.
TURKEY RATING: 7/10
Impressionist Jan left a practice session early in tears because she thought that Anton was laughing at her
BOND BEAUTY WHO VAMPED IT UP
FIONA FULLERTON, 2013
As Befitting a Bond girl (she was in A View To A Kill), Fullerton, then 57, was elegant. Bruno told her: ‘You are very proper, very dainty and you look wonderful.’
She left after an American Smooth of which Len observed: ‘The attitude was first class, the movement a bit business class and the lift was a little bit economy.’
WORST SCORE: 22 for the Cha Cha.
BEST SCORE: 30 for the Quickstep.
EXIT: Week eight.
TURKEY RATING: 4/10
As Befitting a Bond girl (she was in A View To A Kill), Fullerton, then 57, was elegant. Bruno told her: ‘You are very proper, very dainty and you look wonderful’
WRESTLING AN ITALIAN TIGRESS
NANCY DELL’OLIO, 2011
Italian lawyer Nancy, best known for her romance with former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, was high maintenance.
There were rumours she declined to rehearse until after lunch, and Bruno suggested she had been imbibing: ‘Champagne, champagne, you looked like you had two gallons.’ Anton joked that dancing with her was like ‘wrestling a tiger’.
WORST SCORE: 12 for her Waltz.
BEST SCORE: 20 for a Tango.
EXIT: Week five.
TURKEY RATING: 9/10
Italian lawyer Nancy, best known for her romance with former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, was high maintenance
KICKING LIKE A DONKEY
The GMTV host had food poisoning, tendonitis and a rib and a back injury during Strictly — but all the worst calamities were on the dancefloor
KATE GARRAWAY, 2007
The GMTV host had food poisoning, tendonitis and a rib and a back injury during Strictly — but all the worst calamities were on the dancefloor, where she ‘cornered like a Mississippi paddle steamer’ and was moved around the floor ‘like an industrial floor polisher’.
Judge Arlene Phillips said she kicked her legs ‘like a donkey’. Of her Samba, Kate said: ‘I came out on the wrong foot and never quite found the right foot. I ended up on the floor with my knickers showing, which wasn’t great.’
The audience loved her, though, and kept her in ahead of more accomplished dancers such as Gabby Logan.
WORST SCORE: 15 for the Quickstep.
BEST SCORE: 26 for a ‘passable’ Foxtrot.
EXIT: Week seven.
TURKEY RATING: 9/10
TEARS AND A FALL
RUTH LANGSFORD, 2017
The cheery daytime TV presenter lost a little of her sparkle when she fell on top of Anton after a Paso Doble. She also chalked up some terrible scores including an 18 for a Foxtrot.
Ruth also wiped away tears as judge Darcey Bussell added that, in her opinion, Ruth was ‘out of her depth’.
WORST SCORE: 15 for her Rumba to Diamonds Are Forever.
BEST SCORE: 24 for a Tango.
EXIT: Week eight.
TURKEY RATING: 7/10
The cheery daytime TV presenter Ruth Langsford lost a little of her sparkle when she fell on top of Anton after a Paso Doble
POSTURE LIKE A PRAYING MANTIS
JERRY HALL, 2012
At 56, the Texan supermodel was very laid back. ‘It’s a bit of fun, I’m not a dancer,’ she said. In fact, she scored 18 three times over. Craig said she had ‘a posture like a praying mantis’.
WORST AND BEST SCORES: 18. Her Foxtrot was damned by all four judges, with Craig saying: ‘It looked like Anton was dancing with Mr Burns, darling, from The Simpsons.’
EXIT: Week three.
TURKEY RATING: 9/10
At 56, the Texan supermodel was very laid back. ‘It’s a bit of fun, I’m not a dancer,’ she said
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