Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly confirm they’re leaving Strictly Come Dancing...

[dutchman]

They'll exit the show at the end of the current series



Strictly Come Dancing is set to look very different beyond 2025 as beloved hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have announced they’re leaving the star-studded dance show at the end of the current series.

The BBC have confirmed the presenting duo's last appearance together on screen will be on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special which will air on Christmas Day on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Taking to social media to share the news with their followers, the BBC presenters revealed they’d made the “difficult” decision to exit the show. In a joint video on Instagram, the duo chatted about their love for the show and explained why they had chosen to step down from hosting duties.

Captioning the video, Winkleman and Daly wrote: “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.”

Shocked by the announcement, several Strictly stars flocked to the comment section to share messages of support and well wishes - with Oti Mabuse describing the news as "devastating".

Alongside the video, each presenter also shared their own solo statements on Instagram.

"It’s very difficult to put into words exactly what Strictly has meant to me," Winkleman wrote. "It’s been the greatest relationship of my career.

"From working on It Takes Two in 2004 until now it has been my everything, the show I will be eternally grateful for.

"I will never forget Len Goodman trying to teach me what a cucaracha is (I still don’t know) and the complete thrill and honour it was to work with Tess on the results show to cohosting on Saturday nights.

"Strictly is a magical, glittery, fake tanned train and it’s been a privilege to be a tiny part of it. The extraordinary talent of the dancers, the band, the hair and makeup and costume teams, the unbelievable production crew and creatives - all utterly amazing."

Explaining why now feels like the right time to depart the beloved BBC dance competition, she added: "I’ve always believed it’s best to leave a party before you’re fully ready to go."

"I know the new hosts will be magnificent, I look forward to watching them take Strictly to new heights.

"As for Tess - I’m so so lucky I got to stand next to you. You’re funny, kind, whip smart and a true friend and I love you."

Sharing her own message with fans, Daly also expressed how challenging it feels to wave goodbye to a show that's been a huge part of her television career.

"After 21 unforgettable years, the time has come to say goodbye to Strictly Come Dancing," she said. "It's hard to put into words what this show has meant to me, so here goes...

"Strictly has been more than just a television programme. It's felt like having a third child, a second family, and a huge part of my life since that very first show back in 2004. I knew then it was something special, but I could never have imagined the magic it would bring.

"Strictly has always been about joy, celebration, and bringing people together - and I'm so proud to have played a small part in something that continues to mean so much to so many.

"From that very first series, I had the great honour of standing alongside the incomparable Sir Bruce Forsyth. Brucie set the tone for everything that Strictly became: warmth, wit, connection, and pure showbiz magic."

After thanking everyone who works to make the glittering BBC dance show come to life each year, Daly shared a special message to her co-host Winkleman.

"You're one of a kind, and I'll treasure every giggle, every live show, and every backstage moment we've shared," Daly said of her co-star. "I'm so grateful to have you as my friend for life."

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a69130930/claudia-winkleman-tess-daly-strictly-come-dancing-exit/

[dutchman]

It's the end of civilisation as we know it!

[dutchman]

This latest Strictly crisis is a disaster for the BBC



Forget the dreaded dance-off and weekly eliminations. Forget professionals leaving under a cloud or judges being replaced. Strictly Come Dancing just suffered its biggest and potentially most devastating departure ever.

News that co-presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are to step down at the end of the current series has come as a shock to fans and TV industry-watchers alike. Without wishing to overstate things, it’s terrible news for the BBC’s ballroom blockbuster. A double blow when it badly needs some stability. As its figureheads waltz off to pastures new, Strictly’s future suddenly looks uncertain.

Admittedly, they’ve both served epic stints. Daly has helmed the show since its debut 21 years ago. Indeed, along with ever-present judge Craig Revel Horwood, she is the only constant since the pro-celebrity contest began in 2004.

Winkleman has been a sequin-spangled stalwart for 11 years, when she replaced the retiring Sir Bruce Forsyth, but she was part of the fabled “Strictly family” long before that, having presented spin-off show It Takes Two for six series, then taking over the Sunday results show in 2010.

Both have earned the right to hang up their dancing shoes. All good things must come to an end and nobody could blame the two women, both in their 50s with teenage children, for wanting to get their weekends back. As they said in their joint statement: “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.”

It’s a self-deprecating line that has Winkleman’s fingerprints all over it. At the peak of her presenting powers and in a rich run of form, she’s in particularly high demand. The current stratospheric success of The Celebrity Traitors means that the VIP edition looks set to become an annual fixture.

As currently the best presenter on British primetime, Winkleman had almost outgrown Strictly. Her easy warmth, impish intelligence and free-wheeling wit, all delivered from behind that trademark fringe, will be much missed.

Daly is arguably less of a loss. She tends to be taken for granted, derided as “the Tessbot” and mocked for seeming to present on auto-pilot. Much of this criticism, however, has a whiff of sexism. She only appears automatic because she’s honed her skills. You don’t get to front a smash-hit franchise for 23 series unless you’re good at what you do. Routinely underestimated, Daly is a pillar of strength behind the scenes. The glue that holds the glitterball together. Many fans might feel Winkleman’s absence more keenly, but the production itself will miss Daly just as much.

As a rare all-female double act on primetime TV, they were originally part of BBC’s pledge to increase the profile of women across its output. They have since paved the way for others. It’s hard to imagine MasterChef taking a punt on Grace Dent and Anna Haugh without Strictly first proving that male-female duos aren’t the only option. This sisterhood and solidarity is illustrated by their joint departure and joint announcement.

Devotees will digest the news with raised eyebrows and heavy hearts. The show has been dogged by talk of crises in the past couple of years. There have been bullying scandals and the so-called “Strictly curse” (in reference to the broken relationships that have resulted from the flings – and indeed the enduring personal partnerships – that have developed between pro dancers and celebrities who meet on the show). There have been allegations and denials of cocaine use and sexual misconduct; ableist slurs and even arrests of former contestants.

Despite these troubles, ratings have remained strong and recent wins at the viewer-voted National TV Awards were a reminder that the weekly fix of high camp and high kicks is still much-loved. But one wonders whether the loss of its star presenting attraction will prove critical.

We have to hope that the odd timing of the announcement of the departure of Daly and Winkleman – neither at the beginning of the current series nor at its end – doesn’t mean that the decision is sudden and that the BBC isn’t already well advanced in its search for a replacement duo as effective as these two women. Whoever they find to take on the mantle of the highest profile presenting gig on the BBC – apart, that is, from The Traitors – is now of utmost importance to the future of Saturday night TV as we know it.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday, October 25 at 6.20pm

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/10/23/tess-daly-claudia-winkleman-strictly-crisis-bbc/