Vernon Kay’s wife Tess Daly and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Claudia Winkleman announced last month that this series will be their final one on the show
07:00, 25 Nov 2025Updated 07:06, 25 Nov 2025
Vernon Kay launched a rant about the speculation (Image: ITV1)
Vernon Kay has slammed ongoing speculation over who will replace his wife Tess Daly, and Claudia Winkleman, on Strictly Come Dancing next year. Last month, the hosting duo announced they would be handing over the “sparkly baton” to fresh faces after a 12-year stint together.
Since their announcement, there’s been a flurry of names suggested as potential successors, including this year’s contestant La Voix. Last week it was revealed that she had to bow out of the competition due to an injury sustained in rehearsals with Aljaz Skorjanec.
Following her sudden departure, there was no vote-off and scores from the previous week have been carried forward. The results show, which didn’t feature a dance-off, instead gave an emotional farewell to La Voix, along with a spectacular performance from four former contestants.
Discussing the events on Monday during an exchange with Vernon on his BBC Radio 2, Scott Mills said about La Voix’s exit: “Terrible news about the ankle, but who gets a send off like that on Strictly?
Hosts Tess and Claudia with the Strictly Come Dancing stars in Blackpool(Image: PA)
“Normally you have to dance awkwardly with your partner, and it’s not rehearsed,” the ex-contestant added. “And the band sings ‘I’ve had the time of my life’ and that’s the end of that.”
While on the topic, Vernon took the chance to vent about ongoing speculation about who could replace his wife and co-star Claudia.
He said: “It’s hilarious really, since Tess and Claud announced that they will be leaving all the dentist, doctors and reception magazines are all saying, ‘It’s going to be this person, it’s going to be that person’. Let me just say this for the record, and I know a lot of people listen to his because we get quoted a lot of times.
“Do you honestly think that the people at Strictly Come Dancing mid-series are going to have a roundtable about who is going to host it next year?”, to which Scott responded: “No, I don’t think that.”
Carrying on his rant, Vernon added: “Sometimes common sense when you put your fingers to the keyboard makes a big difference.”
Vernon Kay put his and Rylan Clark’s name forward for the roles (Image: ITV)
When Scott asked if he could be the one to replace his wife, he joked: “I tell you who it is, it’s me and Rylan [Clark]. There you go, done, simple.”
Following Scott’s observation that producers are currently focused on the present series, Vernon concurred, stating: “It’s not even finished, as if they’ve got time! They’ve got a Christmas special to organise, just behave yourselves! Wind your necks in, it does my head in.”
Being married to Strictly’s main presenter for over two decades, Vernon said he’s repeatedly asked about the programme, despite not having insider knowledge. Making his point clear, Scott interjected: “What Vernon is saying is stop speculating about who the new hosts will be, because the other ones haven’t finished yet,” to which his colleague replied: “Exactly.”
In addition to La Voix, several other well-known names have been suggested as potential successors, including Holly Willoughby, Paddy McGuinness, Zoe Ball and Alex Jones.
Vernon Kay with his wife Tess Daly (Image: Tess Daly Instagram)
However, despite the speculation, Kate Phillips, the Chief Content Officer at the BBC, recently stated that no decision will be made until next year.
Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, she clarified: “In terms of the process, the production team, BBC Studios and Sarah James [Executive Producer], her team and all these great people who make it, they are now concentrating on getting two shows out a week.
“So we haven’t got time at the moment to start doing any screen tests or chemistry testing. I don’t think we’ll really be looking at it until the New Year because we want to make sure we deliver a great Strictly series.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.35pm on BBC One.