Anton du Beke remark sparked furious 'Strictly fight' as BBC host forced to intervene
A comment made about Strictly Come Dancing star Anton du Beke sparked an awkward clash between two BBC stars.
Rylan Clark had to jump into action on an old episode of Strictly - It Takes Two to prevent an on-air spat from escalating.
The beloved host, joined by co-host Gethin Jones, stepped in as the celebrity guests began to bicker amongst themselves.
The tension rose during a segment where they reviewed rehearsal footage, and comedian Rufus Hound didn't hold back his thoughts on veteran dancer Anton Du Beke.
Commenting on ex-footballer Alex Jones' practice session, Rufus remarked: "But we see it every year with the sports people on Strictly. They're not performers in that way."
He continued, taking a swipe at Anton: "Athletically they've got the ability, but actually dancing, as we know from Anton Du Beke, is 90% from the neck up.", reports the Mirror.
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This prompted laughter from Love Island's Amber Gill, while TV host Gabby Roslyn appeared shocked.
Gabby quickly came to Anton's defence, sternly saying: "Don't diss Anton in the slightest," and insisting, "Nothing negative."
Undeterred, Rufus carried on: "I love Anton but if you watch him dance you realise you're not looking really from there down."
As the audience chuckled and Gabby playfully hit Rufus' hand in mock outrage, Rylan covered his mouth in disbelief and intervened: "I can sense a fight breaking out. I'm going to have to move on because I can't hear a bad word said about our Anton."
The situation was defused when Gabby covered Rufus' mouth to stop any further jibes.
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As Rylan Clark made a teasing digging gesture, he quipped to Rufus Hound: "Rufus, I'm going to help you out here and get out of that hole."
The frankness of Rufus Hound on It Takes Two's panel earned him applause from viewers on Twitter. A loyal fan commented: "Rufus Hound is amazingly good value on the Friday panel on #ItTakesTwo."
"Rufus Hound is always so spot on with his comments," another chimed in.
However, some were vexed by Rufus's tendency to dominate the conversation over fellow celebrity enthusiasts.
A disgruntled viewer remarked: "Jesus why does Rufus Hound interrupt guests, go into rant mode and take over every show he's on, don't invite him onto. Another voiced their irritation: "Yeah I'm a bit behind, but OMG, shut up, Rufus. They weren't asking you!"
