Quotes from Anton du Beke

I've become a produce snob. I like to eat food that's in season.

We didn't know anything about Judy Murray until we met her, but once we got to know her, we found she was an absolute scream.

There is not a lot of money in competition dancing. There never has been; it's all about winning the trophies, really. It's not like golf.

My goal is to be the best TV presenter, the best entertainer, the best singer. I still want to be the best dancer. I want to be the best at everything I do.

With the media how it is these days, people expect to know everything. I don't talk about my girlfriend because essentially she doesn't want to be talked about.

I don't profess to be Luciano Pavarotti, but I can hold a tune.

Bruce Forsyth is my hero, and the thought that I'd be in a TV show with him was incredible.

My old dance teacher, Jimmy Wilde, a former European ballroom dancing champion, was so sophisticated.

I think cookery shows have become so sophisticated, and everyone's so marvellous at it, but there are people like me who aren't into the cooking malarkey, who still don't know how to boil an egg for three minutes.

Mum was always hard-working. She came over from Spain and bought her own council house.

Ballroom is two people dancing together to music, touching in perfect harmony.

Too many multi-vitamins are packaged as one size fits all, but you should be more specific about what you need. When I was competing as a dancer, I took zinc for healthy skin and immune system.

My perfect morning is spent drinking coffee, eating porridge and reading the paper at a local cafe.

As I grew up, I wasn't a great buyer of albums, but I really liked 'The Jam.' I like good musicians and loved the energy of their songs.

I don't like the Samba; it's nonsense. With a lot of these Latin dances I can't really understand what they're all about. I like the Rumba and the Paso Doble but the others I could take or leave.

My father is Hungarian and moved to Britain during the uprising, and my Spanish mum comes from Galicia; they moved here at the end of the Fifties.

I'm going for Britain's Best Dressed Man award, but strangely, I'm never on the list.

I think I've got a bit more to offer than just dancing. It might just be me that thinks that, but it's worth saying.

It may sound cliched, but 'Strictly' is a real journey. I try to encourage my partner to stay in as long as they can, but above all to enjoy it.

Having been part of this wonderful show ever since series one, I know all too well what it's like to perform to the nation on the famous 'Strictly Come Dancing' dancefloor.

I went professional with my partner, Erin Boag, 11 years ago, and we had success competing round the world, but appearing on 'Strictly' has changed my life.

I always enjoy the process, meeting somebody new and spending time with them and becoming friends with them. That has always been the joy of 'Strictly' for me, so I enjoy every year.

My goal was to become the best dancer in the world and, because I started late, I always had this feeling I was playing catch-up, so I've been a bit of a maniac most of my life, sort of striving.

I want to do lots of exciting, varied, interesting things. That's what I want to do.