Strictly Come Dancing’s new presenting line-up have spoken out about how the trio format will work.
The Voice UK and Love Is Blind host Emma Willis, The Last Leg comedian Josh Widdicombe and professional dancer Johannes Radebe were announced as the show’s new hosts earlier this year, after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman confirmed that they would be standing down at the end of 2025.
However, the BBC has yet to clarify the duties of each new presenter, prompting speculation from fans, while Radebe’s place among this year’s professional dancers line-up has also led to confusion.
Speaking with Richard Osman for The Rest Is Entertainment, the trio revealed that there is currently no fixed Tess-and-Claudia-style roles and that, despite earlier reports, Radebe won’t be acting as a backstage ‘roving reporter’ on the new season of Strictly.
Willis said: “There’s no like for like, so no one’s kind of replacing anybody and at the minute it’s all very kind of open. We’re having lots of production days where we go in and we play around and we’re kind of feeling each other out – well, they’re feeling us out really.”
Widdicombe said: “It’s going to be like total football, Richard. We’re going to be moving everywhere.”
Willis added: “There’s definitely no backstage roving reporter, which is what has been reported quite a bit. That’s not a thing.”
They also revealed that the three-host line-up began as a “wild card” for which producers didn’t even have a script.
Willis recalled: “We’re just like, ‘What happens if we do three?’ And they said, ‘It’s so much of a wild card, we don’t really have a script for you either. So we’re going to sit down, get it up on the screen and we’ll have a little tinker all together.’”
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Speaking in a statement about her new role upon its announcement back in May, Willis told viewers that she’s a “huge fan” of the series, adding: “To be stepping into the Strictly ballroom is something I can’t quite comprehend.”
Widdicombe added that he was “giddy with excitement, honoured and a little overawed to be given the chance to step into the biggest shoes in television”.
And Radebe said: “To be returning to Strictly Come Dancing in this new role is beyond anything I ever imagined.”
Speaking during an appearance on Willis’s BBC Radio 2 show later that month, Radebe said of his new role: “Listen, I’m not hanging [up] my dancing shoes yet. I’m not. I will definitely be throwing some shapes and moving my hips. I can’t [not]. That’s my life.
“For it to be just taken away completely would be a travesty for me also. So, it’s not lost. There is a plan in action. I mean, it’s not my space anymore to be on that dancefloor. But there’s gonna be… you’re gonna see JoJo.”
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Strictly Come Dancing launches on Saturday 19 September at 7:25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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