Obviously, those who dislike Anton will use his utterance of the 'P word as proof of his vileness for ever more, but although I am not a fan, I think the context and circumstances in which he said it more accurately illustrate thoughtlessness and having grown up in a less politically correct time.

Awful as it may seem today, when I was growing up (I am quite a bit older than Anton,) the word was used fairly widely (in my fairly lowly social circle anyway,) in much the same way as Irish people were referred to as 'Micks' and Scots as 'Jocks' etc. Little or no offence was intended.
Of course it came to be used by out and out racists in a vicious and deeply insulting way, which is why it causes so much offence today.

Would someone with a jokey demeanour and who clearly has a fairly lighthearted approach to the show have intentionally delivered a vicious insult to his own partner? I don't think so, but I know I won't persuade the Anton haters, so you carry on brewing your bile and vitriol!

I appreciate Anton a little more each year and find him slightly subversive - he constantly sends up the whole Strictly phenomenon and from what I can gather all his former celeb partners speak highly of him which given some of the people that includes is high praise indeed!

I'm looking forward to seeing how far he and Katie can go this year - he and Judy were one of the few good things about last year's show for me.

He has a great following in Austria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRe3gLoE0wU

I'm of vaguely similar vintage to Anton and you're right, the p-word was common parlance when I was young along with all manner of other nasty words that were used casually and without necessarily intending insult (which does does not, of course, mean none was felt). I would never, in a million years, use the P-word today, nor have I over the last 30-odd years. I doubt Anton intended a 'vicious insult' either, but he must have been living under a rock to be so ignorant.

I'm not sure where this is a link to Ivan but thank you.

Exactly my take on Anton, too. He's a very naughty boy in a nicely subtle way. I've always had a soft spot for him (and Erin) and I cannot for the life of me imagine Strictly without him.

No, I never said that.

If she was using 'that' word then perhaps your wrath should be directed at her - she is of Indian/Moroccan descent as far as I am aware.

Yes, really.

The word never bothered Laila, she was using it all the time and Anton made a full apology which she accepted.

"Fainting couch" socialists and "fetch me the vapours" liberals may disagree but there are worse things going on in the world today.

I wholeheartedly object to your comment.

I am a "fainting couch socialist" and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Come on the Kanton!!

What exactly is a "fainting couch socialist".

I can wait to see their rumba ; and salsa and chacha ........their latin dances

I have a feeling that they will get a ballroom dance for their 1st week; and a couple more for the upcoming weeks.....

I was wondering that myself. I have a horrible feeling I'm a 'fetch me the vapours Liberal' but seeing as I don't know what they are either perhaps I shouldn't be too concerned.

Regarding Anton, OK he did say a racist word, i was disappointed in him, it was wrong and he quite rightly apologised. There has to be a point where you can move on from that! It doesn't mean sweeping it under the carpet and pretending it never happened but it's unfair to keep bringing it up. As far as we know it is a mistake that has never been repeated so I think people should move on. Just my opinion.

I find racism abhorrent If that makes me a fetch me the vapours liberal in your eyes then I think I can live with that.

And the p word is a not a swear word.

I agree that there is no point in bringing it up endlessly. What gets my goat (and thankfully I am not a lone voice) is that if someone does bring it up, inevitably you will get the Eddie Booth type of poster who defends Anton for what he said. That's why, in my opinion, Anton is still associated with it.

I don't see many people defending him for it, rather expressing the opinion that he did something stupid and apologised publicly.That apology was accepted and its fair and reasonable that in that situation to give someone another chance and move on from it.
I well remember the screaming tabloid headlines at the time of the incident and was personally surprised given the level of four inch high black lettered outrage on display that he lasted the series, never mind was repeatedly invited back.
From a personal point of view what that says to me is that there is more to this situation than meets the eye, and that the sort of fairly believable scenario put forward in CRHorwood's book seems likely to me to be what occurred.
If Anton was actually some non ironic Alf Garnett figure there would I'm sure have been lots of folk crawling out of the woodwork to say so, and as seen on here frequently there are plenty of folk from his dancing past who don't like "Tony" as they always make sure they call him.
The point is that nobody but the people involved know what was said or the manner in which it was said in that particular conversation. They both seem to have accepted the aftermath and moved on from it.
If every one of us was subjected to public scrutiny for every stupid thing we'd ever said they're wouldn't be enough newspapers or headline writers. He is in the public eye, what he said was stupid and he apologised. The apology was accepted.
I'm not defending him, that's just what happened.

Excellent post DD23, you have just saved me from writing something similar.

Sadly there is no shortage these days of people eager to take extreme offence on other people's behalf....

Yes indeed. Some people are offended by racism. Some people think it's perfectly fine.

That's life I guess.

That's because most people who knew him before his Strictly days actually knew him as Tony Beke, not Anton du Beck.

Show me where anyone said that they they think racism is "perfectly fine"
The point is that people come to absolute opinions on the basis of stuff that in actual fact they know no more about than what they read in tabloid newspapers, but as you correctly say "that's life."

Which part of "always those prepared to be offended on behalf of others" strikes you as condemning the use of the p word?

Anton didn't say "oh bugger" - he used a word which is used as a hateful racist term. Yes, he has apologised. Yes, it was many years ago. I don't know who brought it up (not me!) but, as per, the Anton supporters justify what he said and refuse to condemn it.

I'm sorry if it bothers people but there are people in this life who will not accept racism and that's the fact of it.

I know that. The point is that those who refer to him as such are not often posting positive comments.
I don't see much "I remember Tony, he was a great guy."

And still nobody has done what you claim in the BiB.

Having a less extreme view of the incident than yourself is NOT the same thing as condoning racism and/or justifying the remark.
But I guess you can't appreciate the distinction - your problem, not mine.

You go ahead and have the last word on this, but I'm done with this sterile discussion.

Well therein lies the rub, you think condemning the use of a hateful racist term is "extreme". Perhaps I feel differently to you because of my own life experiences. I agree that the conversation has become sterile and pointless. I just find it a little sad that there are still people in this world who refuse to condemn any form of racism and trot out pointless phrases about people being offended on behalf of others.

He didn't actually apologiseuntil firced to and then it was half hearted. Out of interest do you think a non-White with any self respect could be paired with him? - Although thinking about it that gives them an advantage as he is the worst pro by miles.

Seems to be a common problem on this site!