In surprise news this morning Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have announced that they will be leaving ‘Strictly Come Dancing' following the current series.
Daly, who has been with the show since 2004 and took over as the main presenter from Sir Bruce Forsyth in 2014. Winkleman has been Daly's sidekick since then but has been with the show since 2004 also, when she presented ‘It Takes Two' before joining the main show as a co-presenter in 2010.
In a statement posted on Instagram, along with a video, the pair said:
“We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last “keep dancing” but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.
Tess & Claud”
Watch the video below:
The news will no doubt be a complete surprise to fans and speculation will be rife about who might replace the duo. It's going to a hard act to follow, as Daly and Winkleman have been a staple part of the nation's weekends for over 20 years.
‘Strictly Come Dancing' 2025 continues with Icons Week this Saturday on BBC One and iPlayer at 6.20pm.
