Strictly’s Emma Willis stepped in as one of the new hosts for 2026’s series and despite not being a new face on TV screens, people are only just realising her real age
Strictly Come Dancing fans were stunned to discover the real age of one of the show’s hosts, Emma Willis. Following Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s decision to step down from the BBC show, bosses made the decision to bring in Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe as the dynamic presenting trio for the 2026 series.
However, Emma is not a new face on our TV screens. In fact, she started working as a a presenter for MTV UK in 2002 before reaching a more mainstream audience hosting on Big Brother‘s Big Mouth ahead of becoming the main host of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.
In more recent years, she has hosted reality TV programmes such as The Circle, The Voice, and Love is Blind with her husband, Matt Willis. But with Emma appearing on our screens more and more over the years, some people were absolutely floored when they found out more details about her.
When fans saw a clip surface of a recent interview Emma did with You Magazine, they were stunned to realise how old she really is.
In the clip, she said: “So, I am 50 and I wish I’d have known how capable I was. I feel like I have had the brakes on for decades in my life because I was always scared that I either wasn’t good enough or I wouldn’t succeed.
“And it’s only really been, I suppose, the last five years that I’ve kind of gone, ‘Oh actually, you should just give it a try because it doesn’t matter how it ends up, you’ve given it a go.’ And I don’t think you’ll ever really regret trying.”
Fans quickly commented on the TikTok video to gush over Emma’s looks, with many expressing they had no idea she was 50.
One person said: “50 YEARS OF EARTH. She’s utterly incredible in every sense.” A second said: “Huh. I thought Emma was 40/41 max.”
A third person added: “Did not know she was 50. Kudos.” A fourth said: “I’m no longer afraid of turning 50!”
Emma Louise Willis, was born in Birmingham and found out lots more about her heritage when she appeared on Who Do You Think You Are. It was confirmed that Emma has longstanding roots in Birmingham, with her family tree being traced back to her great-great-great-grandfather.
She also found she had Irish ancestors, which left her feeling extremely extremely uncomfortable with the actions of one, who she discovered was a violent Orangeman.
Emma began modelling age 15 working for a number of magazines including Marie Claire, Elle, Vogue, GAP and Chanel before transferring over to TV presenting in 2002.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
