Anton du Beke will not throw Ann Widdecombe across the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ dancefloor as much in the Christmas special for fear he might "break her".
The ‘Strictly’ pro dancer will reunite with the former politician – who he was previously paired up with during series eight of the Latin and ballroom show in 2010 – for the festive version, and while she was always keen for him to chuck her around the dancefloor, Anton is concerned about injuring 71-year-old Ann.
He said: "Mostly everybody gets a bit of the chuck and slide whether they want it or not.
"Anne said, ‘Oh I’d love to do that.’ And I said, ‘I’m not sure I can chuck you across,’ and she said, ‘No, no, you must.’
"She was so brilliant and game and fun. She wanted to enjoy herself and she wanted to entertain people.
"I’m not going to be chucking her quite as much. I might break her."
Anton – whose latest celebrity partner was Susannah Constantine, who was eliminated first this series – tries to always give his partners a big routine full of props to make them feel less "self-conscious" about their dancing.
Speaking on Channel 5 current affairs show ‘Jeremy Vine’, he added: "What I don’t want to do is make my partner feel really self-conscious.
"Because you’re so out there on your own, on the floor in front of everybody.
"So it’s very important I give them a whole big thing going on so they can sort of hide themselves in it, and be part of it."
Ann admitted this week she cannot wait to get her dancing shoes on again for the ‘Strictly’ Christmas special.
She said: "I am very much looking forward to returning to Strictly, where I shall once again be pushed, pulled, cajoled and coaxed around the dancefloor in all manner of ways by my poor dance partner. Who knows, they might even fire me out of a canon."
Anton du Beke worries he will ‘break’ Ann Widdecombe on Strictly Christmas special
