EXCLUSIVE: Strictly legend Ian Waite tells the Mirror how he thinks the revamp is going – and gives an insight into how Zoe Ball reacted after missing out on the hosting gig
Strictly pro legend Ian Waite reckons that new host Josh Widdicombe needs to “find his funny” on the BBC dancing show and that viewers are yet to truly see his comedic side.
The 55-year-old, who starred on Strictly for seven series, is famously still friends with his 2005 partner Zoe Ball and spoke to her after she was rejected from the hosting gig. He reckons she would have been “brilliant” in the role.
“I’ve been watching Strictly and seeing all the new stuff that’s going on,” he tells the Mirror. “I think it’s probably been a big learning curve for [BBC bosses] as well, because obviously we haven’t changed quite so much on Strictly ever before.
“So much has changed with the new pros, new presenters. I think it’s a lot to get used to.”
However, he believes that Josh, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe are improving. “Each week that goes past, the presenting team seem to be getting better and finding their feet,” he says. “I’m particularly happy for Johannes because I think it’s great that a pro has got a prominent job like that, like Anton getting the judging role.
“I think it just makes sense. If we’ve been there for so long, it makes sense for you know there to be some sort of moving on to that sort of stage.”
He adds: “Obviously Emma’s amazing and I think Josh will come into his own. I think he just needs to find his feet and find his funny because he is so funny and and we have yet to really see that.”
Out of the three hosts, Josh has been hit the hardest with the viewer backlash after a number of his pre-scripted jokes struggled to land with the audience. A particularly awkward moment last weekend saw him make a convulted quip about Shaun’s Salsa which resulted in en eye-wincing silence from the crowd.
As a comedian, wouldn’t he have been better in the Clauditorium making off-the-cuff comments? “I’m surprised that they put him with Emma,” Ian admits. “But maybe things will change throughout the series, and maybe they’ll move things around. But I think I understand why they’ve been chosen. I think they just need to step forward and do what they’ve been chosen for.
“Emma’s that anchor, Josh is the funny, and Johannes is the pro who knows all about dancing. So let’s make it relatable to the dancing. And I think if they can do that, then they’re going to be fantastic.”
Zoe was one of many names thrown into the hat for the hosting job and was considered a frontrunner. However, she was rejected following the extensive audition process and said in May that she had “worked through the seven stages of grief and rejection”.
“She actually told me before it was announced who got the job that she hadn’t got it,” Ian says. “And she did say to me she was gutted about it. I think she would have been brilliant for the job, and we know that she would have been brilliant. She’s Strictly through and through. Ten years on It Takes Two, and she’s an amazing presenter. So I was a bit sad when she didn’t get it.”
Ian has his own thoughts on why she didn’t get the role. “I think moving forward, they just wanted to change it up, not have any of the old faces bring in some new faces and see how that goes.”
What does he hope for Strictly in the future? “I hope that there’s a resurgence and it just shoots back up again, and we can start to get some of the audience back that we’ve lost over the years,” he says. “In its prime we were getting like 10, 12, 14 million it was it was just amazing to be part of it. I and I think it is a fantastic show, and it’ll still run for many many years. I’m sure because it’s so brilliant.”
Ian was speaking on behalf of BestBettingBonuses.co.uk.
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