By Scarlett Dargan For You Magazine Published: 03:01 EDT, 31 August 2024 | Updated: 03:01 EDT, 31 August 2024
My favourite drink as a child was orange Fanta. I first tried it in Spain when I was three or four years old. At home in Kent we’d only be given cordial or squash but on holiday, me, my brother Stephen and my sister Veronica were allowed Fanta as a special summer-holiday treat.I love coffee but my first drink of the day is always tea. At home in Buckinghamshire I have Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend loose leaf, but if I’m on the road I’ll take the brand’s Silky Tea Bags. I love a hot drink while I’m writing so I get through many cups in a day. Anton loves tea at The RitzWhen I make coffee I have a percolator pot that sits on the stove. I’m quite fussy about coffee being properly brewed and would never drink instant. The stuff is a disgrace! In tea I like skimmed milk and in coffee I like oat milk. I started on oat milk because I heard it was better for you, but now everyone’s saying it’s full of sugar, too. I’m going to try switching to coconut milk instead. I don’t drink alcohol because I don’t have the constitution for it. When we started going to the pub for beers aged 18, I found I’d get drunk quickly and be awfully sick. I was always more than happy to be the designated driver. Then, as I got more serious with dancing, it became a fitness thing to keep me on top form. You don’t want to be driving to ballroom competitions all over the country with a hangover.On my first date with my wife Hannah [Summers] she drank champagne. I took her to The Wolseley [Piccadilly, London] for lunch a few weeks after we were introduced at a big do at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey. I had sparkling mineral water and Hannah had a glass of Taittinger, her favourite. She’s a real champagne girl and always has some in the fridge. My most memorable drink was in 2022 at Buckingham Palace. It was for a charity event and I got to share a splendid afternoon tea with Princess Anne. Perhaps because I’m not a drinker, a good afternoon tea is one of my favourite things. I’ve travelled to dozens of countries but the afternoon tea at The Ritz is the world’s best.Some of my happiest memories are of being with Bruce Forsyth and Len Goodman. Brucie was my great hero, and after the first series of Strictly in 2004, he invited Len and me to his Surrey estate. We played a round of golf then went back for tea and Wimbledon on the TV. For me, a young lad from Sevenoaks, it was absolutely huge getting to spend the day with a TV legend I’d looked up to my whole life.If I could have a drink with anyone I’d pick Fred Astaire. As a dancer he’s always been my inspiration. A few years ago I had a part in a musical that Fred once played, and his daughter Ava [Astaire-McKenzie] invited me for tea at her Kensington apartment. I wanted her permission to take on the role, but she ended up chatting with me all afternoon about her father’s amazing career. Anton’s favourite Fortnum & Mason’s Royal BlendSpirits are the worst drinks I ever tried. I can never understand it when someone says, ‘Oh, I love scotch, but I wouldn’t touch vodka.’ They all taste the same to me – I call them all firewater.At my funeral everyone should drink Fortnum & Mason loose leaf tea. But – and this is important – I need it to be served in china cups with saucers. I never want tea in a mug, and certainly not at my send-off.Code Name Foxtrot, a children’s book by Anton Du Beke, with illustrations by Elisa Paganelli, is published by Puffin, £7.99. To order a copy for £7.19 until 15 September, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25. rex, alamy, getty images
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MY LIFE IN DRINKS: ‘Instant coffee is a disgrace,’ says Striclty judge Anton du Beke