{"id":975036,"date":"2026-05-21T07:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/975036\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T07:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:37:28","slug":"strictly-judge-defends-tess-and-claudias-replacements-after-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/975036\/","title":{"rendered":"Strictly judge defends Tess and Claudia’s replacements after backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Strictly Come Dancing judge has weighed in on the changes as three stars have been confirmed as the new hosts.<\/p>\n

07:49, 21 May 2026Updated 07:49, 21 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe have been confirmed as the new Strictly judges (Image: Ray Burmiston\/BBC\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> judge Shirley Ballas has jumped in to defend the new hosts<\/a> of the BBC<\/a> One programme.<\/p>\n

After months of speculation over who would be replacing Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly as presenters <\/a>of Strictly, the BBC confirmed three stars would be stepping in.<\/p>\n

TV legend Emma Willis will be joined by comedian Josh Widdicombe and Strictly pro Johannes Radebe, it\u2019s been confirmed.<\/p>\n

The unlikely trio have been announced after the likes of Rylan Clark, Zoe Ball and Angela Scanlon were thought to be in the running.<\/p>\n

As excitement for the new series grows, with rumours swirling over which celebrities will be taking part, fans have shared their thoughts on the new hosts, with several suggesting it\u2019s an \u201cutterly bizarre\u201d choice and that the BBC are taking a \u201cgamble\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Craig<\/p>\n

A Strictly Come Dancing judge has weighed in on the new presenting line-up (Image: PA)<\/p>\n

However, head judge Shirley has now jumped in to defend Emma, Josh and Johannes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a surprise to everybody that it was three and not two, so now it\u2019s where they fit and what those little changes are,\u201d she told Metro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, everybody loves JoJo. He\u2019s just a well-loved figure. He\u2019s been in Kinky Boots; he\u2019s a professional dancer, but more than that, it\u2019s half his character. He wears his heart on his sleeve, so it\u2019s an absolute delight that we got him,\u201d Shirley went on.<\/p>\n

\"Strictly<\/p>\n

Shirley Ballas threw her support behind the new trio, declaring “The BBC has got this right” (Image: PA)<\/p>\n

She admitted that she wasn\u2019t \u201coverly familiar\u201d with Josh, but considers him funny and a \u201ccharming chap\u201d, while Emma is a \u201cdoll\u201d.<\/p>\n

She declared: \u201cI think the BBC has really got this right.\u201d<\/p>\n

After being confirmed as one of the new hosts, Emma said she was a \u201chuge fan\u201d of the show, adding: “To be stepping into the Strictly ballroom is something I can’t quite comprehend.”<\/p>\n

Josh meanwhile said he was “giddy with excitement, honoured and a little overawed to be given the chance to step into the biggest shoes in television”, while Johannes said taking part in the show in a new presenting role “is beyond anything I ever imagined”.<\/p>\n

\"Emma<\/p>\n

Fans have been left shocked after the unlikely trio were announced (Image: Ray Burmiston\/BBC\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Remarking on the trio, Strictly\u2019s executive producer Sarah James said the new combination was “unexpected, but their magic was undeniable the moment they came together”.<\/p>\n

Tess and Claudia announced they were quitting Strictly last year, saying their time on the show had been \u201can absolute dream\u201d but it \u201cfeels like the right time\u201d to leave.<\/p>\n

They wrote: \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n

\"Claudia<\/p>\n

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced they were stepping down from Strictly last year (Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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\u2019re the most brilliant team and we\u2019ll miss them every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will cry when we say the last \u201ckeep dancing\u201d but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tess – who recently gained a Guinness World Record for the longest-serving host of the same dance competition TV show – began presenting Strictly from its inception in 2004, first with Sir Bruce Forsyth, and then with Claudia when she joined as a co-host in 2014.<\/p>\n

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Strictly Come Dancing judge has weighed in on the changes as three stars have been confirmed as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":975037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5010],"tags":[192,748,4884,1887,1888,16,15,1764],"class_list":["post-975036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-bbc","tag-britain","tag-great-britain","tag-shirley-ballas","tag-strictly-come-dancing","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116611426173884167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/975037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}