Emotions were high as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman addressed their decision to leave Strictly Come Dancing. On Thursday morning, the duo announced they are both quitting the BBC show at the end of the current series.
And as they opened the first show since making their joint statement, they made their feelings known. As they announced icons week they took a moment to thank the fans for their support.
Claudia said: “We want to thank you for your beautiful messages, we’ve got another eight weeks on this incredible show.”
Tess then added: “We cannot wait to spend the rest of the show with you, with our amazing couples and of course with these four, please welcome the judges.”
Fans were quick to share their feelings online. On Twitter/X, one viewer wrote: “Everytime i think of tess & claud leaving,” alongside two broken heart emojis. Another said: “The reception for Tess and Claudia tonight is so well deserved just like it has been every single week for all the years they’ve done it together and both of them talking about their departure #Strictly”
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BBC)
Claudia has been the face of the show since 2010, while Tess began presenting alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth 21 years ago. On Thursday, they said in a statement: “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.”
Their announcement was met with huge appreciation by stars past and present in the comments section of their Instagram post. Among those responding was Amy Dowden, who wrote: “Nooooo, absolutely gutted! Our beautiful strictly queens!
“Thank you, from being a fan these past 21 years to joining the show you have both brought so much joy, elegance, fun and pure brilliant entertainment to the nation! Thank you! Going to miss you both so much! Welsh love always xxxx”
AJ Odudu also replied, saying: “Bowing down to you two Queens! Love you Legends both so much.”
Plenty of names have been linked with taking over their roles since they made their decision. Among those fans have called for include LadBaby Mark Hoyle and his wife Roxanne.
Following their appearance at the Pride of Britain Awards, fans commented on a Facebook post of the pair. One user wrote: “These two beautiful people are my pick for the new hosts to replace Tess and Rylan to replace Claudia on strictly.”
A second agreed and said: “Wow this was brilliant you two are amazing you presented this like real professionals, you both need to be grabbed up for your own show.”
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