Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke has opened up to Kate Garraway about the time he spent three days in hospital after he was stabbed by his father on Boxing Day.

This childhood incident was said to have occurred when the star was living with his Spanish mother and Hungarian father in Kent.

While his mother encouraged his passion for dancing, his father "took a turn" against him when alcoholism began to take hold of him.

Anton Du Beke opens up about being stabbed by father while talking with Kate Garraway on Life Stories

While appearing on Kate Garraway's Life Stories programme, he said: "The alcoholism and the violence…[it was] towards me, because I was a boy, a young man I suppose.

"You’ve got an alcoholic father and a situation where if you’re in the house [when he’s] drinking then you end up with the fights and stuff.

“You’d move room to get away from all of it and then he follows you in and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one evening, I ended up in hospital for three days."

While holding back tears, he added: “I got stabbed, I’ve never said this out loud before."

While explaining that most of his family and friends don't know about the incident, the BBC Strictly star insisted: “I’m a forward looker, I don’t like to look back, I like to look forward.”

Recalling the incident in more detail while on the ITV show, Anton Du Beke continued: "I got stabbed in the leg and in the stomach because of a fight on Boxing Day and it was an idiotic situation.

“I remember walking out of the house to walk up to the hospital holding my leg and a police car drove past and I waved them down and I said ‘he’s in there with a knife’.

“Anyway, they carted him off and I ended up in hospital for three or four days.

“My only concern was getting back into the studio and dancing and the embarrassment of it.”

He said that he told people that he had pulled a hamstring when he was asked about his leg injury.

He said: “I can’t really believe I’m talking to you about this. I should’ve glossed over this.

“Even the thought of that [attack] being a thing sort of annoys me as well.”

Garraway then revealed that Anton De Beke's father was cleared in court of wounding his son with Anton opting not to attend his father's funeral when he died.

Anton added: "Everything was about moving forwards, I felt sorry for my mum, this was her husband, she’s working two jobs and he chose to drink and be violent, it’s just life and you carry on."

At the time, the aspiring dancer changed his name “from Tony Beke, who grew up on a council estate” to “Anton Du Beke, The Show Man”.

He said: “I wanted a new start and a new beginning and I wanted to leave what went before, behind, and then move on with the rest of my life, I just wanted to be me.”

Kate Garraway's Life Stories airs on Wednesdays at 9 pm on ITV1 and ITVX.