Strictly’s new hosts say they will share roles, not replace Daly

Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe have said they will not have fixed roles when they take over as hosts of Strictly Come Dancing, replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The trio described their appointment as a “wild card decision” by producers and rejected reports that Radebe would be a backstage roving reporter. The new series starts on Saturday 19 September.

Who is replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing?

Willis, Widdicombe and Radebe are the programme’s new presenting team. Daly and Winkleman left the show together at the end of the 2025 series. Daly hosted on the dancefloor, introducing the dancers and the judges, while Winkleman did the post-dance debrief upstairs in the “Clauditorium”.

Will the new hosts have fixed roles?

“No one’s replacing anybody – at the minute it’s all very kind of open,” Willis told Richard Osman on The Rest is Entertainment podcast. Widdicombe said the three of them would “be like Total Football”, adding: “We’re going to be moving everywhere”.

Is Johannes Radebe a roving reporter on Strictly?

No. Willis said: “There’s definitely no backstage roving reporter, which is what has been reported quite a bit.” Radebe, a former professional dancer on the show, said he would do “a little bit of prying and finding out the truth”, and described the role as “very, very exciting”, while admitting he felt “a little bit of a tinge” of fear of missing out at seeing the professionals in rehearsals.

Will Radebe struggle with being impartial?

Radebe said he will “struggle” with having to be impartial now that he is no longer competing. Asked by Osman whether the gloves would be off should the judges be overly critical of the new crop of contestants, Radebe joked that he was “waiting for that judges’ debrief”.

How were the three new hosts chosen?

Willis said the plan to put the three of them together was a “wild card decision” by producers that took them all by surprise, and called the hiring process “the most cloak and dagger thing” she has seen, lasting about four months. The trio took part in a “chemistry test” to see how they interacted as a group, which Willis described as “terrifying, but so brilliant”. She said producers told them: “This is the last one and this is a wild card.” Willis said they asked what would happen if they did three, and were told: “It’s so much of a wild card, we don’t really have a script for you either.” Widdicombe added that the process was so secretive that he told his taxi driver he was testing for a show called The Great Garden Glow Up, if asked.

Who is in the new Strictly Come Dancing line-up?

Fifteen celebrities are competing for the glitterball trophy, including Australian singer Delta Goodrem, former England footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips, actresses Lacey Turner and Jaime Winstone and Team GB skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker. Judges Shirley Ballas, Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke are back for the new series, which starts on Saturday 19 September.

In separate UK television news, Esther Rantzen has said she is too fragile to reach the Dignitas clinic.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the new Strictly Come Dancing hosts?

Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe will present the new series, replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who left at the end of the 2025 series.

When does the new series of Strictly Come Dancing start?

The new series begins on Saturday 19 September, with 15 celebrities competing and judges Shirley Ballas, Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke returning.

Is Johannes Radebe going to be a roving reporter on Strictly?

No. Emma Willis said there is “definitely no backstage roving reporter”, despite reports of such a role for Radebe.

With reporting from BBC News.

Stock image, not from the events described. Kazantip, Popovka, Crimea, Techno dance floor at night, Red lights — Vyacheslav Argenberg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)