A BODY language expert has revealed why Anton Du Beke has been “holding back” after he returned to the show as a judge last week.
The former professional dancer joined the judging panel to fill the space gap left by former judge Bruno Tonioli, who left after struggling to juggle the BBC show with Dancing With The Stars.
Anton looks to be wishing to be “back on the floor”
The former pro dancer joined the judging panel last year
Anton, 56, who has been part of the Strictly Come Dancing cast since the show began in 2004, has been looking “comfortable” as a judge.
A body language expert analysed the former pro’s first night on the panel, noting he’s not afraid to “challenge” the other judges.
However, Darren Stanton revealed that he thinks Anton is holding back a little, because he “wants to get back on the dance floor”.
Speaking to Betfair, the analyst explained: “Anton was seen making a lot of movement with his body and gestures as he sat on the panel.
“He’s doing a thing in psychology that we call second positioning, which means he’s placing himself into the shoes of the candidate.
“This can come across as him being frustrated sometimes because I feel Anton just wants to hit the dance floor and take part rather than being a judge.
“I do feel perhaps Anton isn’t as harsh as some of the other judges when he probably needs to be. That’s because he is naturally a nice guy and does not like to upset people.
“He almost wants to please everybody and always wants everyone to win because he truly does love the competition – that’s clear from his posture and body language.
“Although we will still see the Anton we have always loved, he may well continue to get even more critical as time goes along.
“I predict as the competition continues and the technical ability becomes more important, we may see Anton come out of his comfort zone and be more critical.”
It comes after Anton opened up about not speaking to former judge Bruno since he replaced him on the Strictly panel.
Anton was drafted in last year when travel restrictions ruled out Bruno’s appearance.
But when Anton returns to the BBC ballroom show in a couple of weeks, the glittering shoes he steps into will be entirely his own.
In his first interview ahead of the Strictly launch, Anton told how the news that he was to reprise his judging role was “a lovely result”.
The pair have not been in touch with each other, but Anton laughed off speculation of a feud, insisting he would have stood aside if Bruno, 66, had returned.
Anton said: “I always knew it could be taken away, however good I was on the judging panel. But I took the same attitude as I did when I was competing, which is that I can only control what I do.
“Ballroom dancing is not first past the post — it is subjective, and you’re being adjudicated.
“So it doesn’t matter how well you thought you did. If your number doesn’t get called, there is nothing you can do.
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“All you can do is be ready and do your best. I was pleased with my performance on the show.
“But I was only stepping in. If Bruno had wanted to come back, the bosses couldn’t say to him, ‘We don’t want you’.
“If it had been the other way around and that had happened to me, I would have been really disappointed. So it would have been fair enough. It was his job in the first place, and I’d have gone back to dancing.”
