Claudia Winkleman joined the Strictly Come Dancing presenting team in 2004 and has hosted the main show since 2014, after taking over from Bruce Forsyth
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly have stunned fans today by announcing they are quitting Strictly Come Dancing.
In a statement they said: “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.”
It has been an open secret that Claudia and Tess would always leave Strictly at the same time.
However, Claudia has been particularly vocal about how her family would always take priority.
The popular host of the long-running Saturday night show once told BBC bosses that she refused to work on a certain date because it fell on the same day she was due to take her eldest son to university.
Mum-of-three Claudia said she was determined to be with 18-year-old Jake on his first day as a fresher because it is ‘something parents have to go through.’
Admitting there were ‘plenty of tears’ during her ultimatum phone call, Claudia said she told BBC boss “I’m out” after hearing the dates clashed.
Recalling her emotional turmoil on BBC Women’s Hour, Claudia said: “‘I phoned the boss of Strictly quite dramatically and said, through tears, “Sarah I love you.
“I don’t want to leave Strictly and Tess [Daly] and I have agreed we will leave together when they’re done with us, but if the first show is September 13, I’m out and you’ll have to go with somebody else.
‘And there was a beat. And she said, ‘Quite dramatic. We don’t start that week.’
“I was like, “alright”. I have to go and put up his posters. It’s not that I love him more than others love their kids, but this is something parents have to go through.”
Claudia and husband of 21-years Kris Thykier are parents to Jake, Matilda and Arthur.
The TV presenter previously revealed she has made a do-or-die pact with her co-host Tess Daly that they will leave Strictly at the same time.
The pair have fronted the show since 2014, following former host Bruce Forsyth’s death.
Claudia says they are now inseparable and can’t imagine going on without each other.
“Tess and I will leave at the same time,” she previously told the Mirror.
“We’ve made that pact over pizza. We’ll go together, whenever they’re done with us.”
Despite their success as a pairing, Claudia admits she still suffers with imposter syndrome.
“Imposter syndrome, I’ve got it in capital letters,” she explained.
“Even if they phoned me now and said, ‘You’re done’, I’d still think I have had the best career possible.”
“I think your mental wellbeing is affected if you compare yourself to others.
“I am totally happy where I am at. I am not at the top but I am incredibly grateful for what I have.”
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