Du Beke: 'Strictly success was a surprise'

Anton du Beke has claimed that he was shocked by the success of Strictly Come Dancing.

The professional dancer told The Daily Telegraph that nobody expected the show to be a ratings-winner when it was launched in 2004.

Du Beke said: "The success of Strictly Come Dancing was an enormous surprise. No-one knew how popular it was going to be.

"Come Dancing had been ridiculed for years, so when the BBC approached the dancing business with the idea for its new show, everyone said, ‘Here we go, another gag at the expense of ballroom dancing'."

He added: "Erin [Boag] and I got involved because we didn't want to be on the outside wondering what was going on, and we realised after the first meeting that they were serious about it and it was about to be one of the big Saturday night shows, with Brucie (Bruce Forsyth) at the helm.

"Eight years on and I think it has just had the best viewing figures ever, near 12 million. All the bosses at the BBC are sitting in their offices thinking, 'This turned out rather well'."