Anton du Beke has joked acting as a judge on the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ tour is his "audition" for Len Goodman’s job.
The ballroom dancer claims he has no idea whether head judge Len will be stepping down from the BBC One show before the next series kicks off later this year but joked appearing on the judging panel on the current tour is giving him good practice.
Quizzed on whether he’d be taking over from Len, he told ITV’s ‘This Morning’: "Well I know it’s been said … But I haven’t heard any of this … I don’t know what Len’s going to do. As far as I’m aware, I don’t think Len’s not going to be doing it, but if they asked…"
The 48-year-old star – who was partnered with tennis coach Judy Murray on the last series – added: "I’m doing a couple of guest [judging] spots on the ‘Strictly’ tour so they’ve probably got it from there.
"And it’s lovely, it was lovely to be asked and to see it from the other side of the fence – but as far as I’m aware I don’t know that Len’s not doing it. They probably would have mentioned it [by now] but maybe [the tour] is my audition?"
Len, 70, recently confessed he has no plans to quit his job – which he does alongside his role as a judge on the American version ‘Dancing with the Stars’ – because it’s "such an easy gig".
He said previously: "I love that show. ‘Strictly’ is fantastic and I love it. So as long as I can keep going, I will.
"And it’s such an easy gig! A car picks you up and takes you to the studio, you sit there for a couple of hours saying, ‘Keep your head up’. And then a car takes you home and then they pay you!"
Anton was also linked to Sir Bruce Forsyth’s job after he stepped down as host of the show last year, however, co-host Tess Daly took over the role with Claudia Winkleman joining her.
Anton du Beke jokes about taking over from Len Goodman
