![\"Claudia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/002360f0-614.jpg\"\/)
\nClaudia Winkleman and Tess Daly<\/p>\n
Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has said she was “surprised” when the show\u2019s hosts announced they would be stepping down after 11 years in the role.<\/p>\n
Ballas spoke about Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly\u2019s departure from the popular BBC One show calling it “sad”, after the presenting duo announced in October this year that they would be leaving their roles in a joint statement shared on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Winkleman and Daly had fronted the series together since 2014, and their last appearance presenting the show together was during its pre-recorded festive episode, which aired on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Saga Magazine for their January issue, Ballas said she would miss the hosting duo, and spoke about when they announced their departure from the show.<\/p>\n
She said: “Everyone was surprised. I share the changing room next to them, and they are full of giggles and laughter.<\/p>\n
“They also showed me the way from when I joined until now, so it will be a sad day when they go.”<\/p>\n
\nClaudia Winkleman and Tess Daly<\/p>\n
Ballas joined the BBC dancing competition in 2017, and made her debut as head judge in September that year.<\/p>\n
The dancer has since appeared on nine seasons of the show, but admitted she was initially unsure about taking on the role, and almost quit in 2018.<\/p>\n
She said: “I didn\u2019t know if I wanted the job back because of the intrusion, people selling stories, the constant criticism.”<\/p>\n
Ballas said her son, choreographer Mark Ballas, pushed her to stay in her role on Strictly: “He said, \u2018Imagine the platform you\u2019ll have. This gives you a reach for causes that you\u2019re passionate about\u2019.<\/p>\n
“And he was right. I\u2019m truly grateful for it.”<\/p>\n
Ballas has used her platform to advocate for male suicide awareness and men\u2019s mental health, after her brother took his own life in 2003.<\/p>\n
She is an ambassador for charities Campaign Against Living Miserably and Suicide&Co.<\/p>\n
Source: Press Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has said she was “surprised” when the show\u2019s hosts announced they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-257814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115807912529909086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}