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Strictly's Anton du Beke teases secret Shirley Ballas romance with 'rumour' joke

EXCLUSIVE: Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton du Beke was forced to backtrack after making it sound like he and Shirley were co-parents at the Pride of Britain Awards

Anton du Beke appeared to hint he'd had a secret whirlwind romance with his fellow Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas.

The Strictly judge joked that he and Shirley were co-parents at the Pride of Britain Awards, which took place at Grosvenor House in London on Monday (October 24).

The duo spoke exclusively to Daily Star and other press in the winners room during the ceremony, which airs Thursday (October 27) at 8pm on ITV.

READ MORE: Strictly grinds to sudden halt just minutes into show as crowd chant and stomp

The pair had just presented the Child of Courage award to Elizabeth Soffe, 8, who suffered life-changing injuries in a horrific cot-fire.

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Anton joked he and Shirley were secretly parents at the Pride of Britain Awards(Image: Daily Mirror)

The amazing young lady raised a over 200k by running a marathon in 26 days for medics who saved her life at Birmingham's Children's Hospital.

Head judge Shirley admitted she and Anton had wept over the winner backstage, saying: "Well, I think Anton and I were getting very teary backstage so we really had to kind of pull it together."

Anton heaped praise on "extraordinary" Elizabeth as he said: "People will say it's a lovely evening. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I don't think it's enough, I think its extraordinary people doing extraordinary things.

[shirley ballas]

Anton and Shirley heaped praise on Child of Courage winner Elizabeth Soffee(Image: PA)

"And Elizabeth is extraordinary to go through what she went through at such an early age, and to have such a positive outlook, and a positivity through her life and her sort of attitude about life is remarkable."

He later went to make a point about how Elizabeth's win made him feel as a parent before having to backtrack rather quickly as he made it sound like they'd welcomed a child of their own.

The dancer began: "We're both parents, Shirley and I..." before clarifying: "Not of the same child."

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Anton Dubeke replaced Bruno Tonioli as a judge on Strictly(Image: PA)

He then quipped: "That was only ever a rumour!", prompting a big laugh from the room and perhaps a flush of embarrassment.

Anton, won just Best Judge at the National Television Awards, has worked alongside Shirley for years and joined her on the Strictly panel last year.

Elizabeth's dad Liam Soffe said the award was a "celebration of her approach to life" and that she has a "lot to complain about but never does".

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with TSB, ITV, 27th October, 8pm

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