In a week, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will say goodbye to the show they’ve hosted for the last 21 years
This weekend will be the penultimate time we see Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman command the Strictly dance floor on live TV. The emotions are already running high, and whispers of what might happen when they say goodbye in their final live broadcast are already floating around; a surprise dance with the show’s professionals is almost certainly on the cards. But I’m much more interested in what the presenting pair will get up to after the glitterball trophy has been lifted.
In one sense, the world is Tess and Claudia’s oyster. As hosts of one of the biggest – and certainly most respected, even with the growing number of scandals – shows on British TV for 21 years, they have become national treasures. Television producers will no doubt be clamouring to sign them up. In another sense, though, Strictly is an albatross – everything they do in the future will be compared to it, nothing (with the exception of The Traitors, of course) will be as big as it.
Tess and Claudia might have worked together on the same series for 21 years, but their presenting styles couldn’t be more different. Although their distinct skill sets certainly do complement one another, they’re not exactly Ant and Dec – no one is expecting them to stay joined at the hip as they move into their next career chapters. If they’re smart, they will go their separate ways.
It’s Tess’s job to bring order to the chaos (Photo: Guy Lev/BBC)
Tess is the captain of the entire Strictly ship, a live television juggernaut that will sink if it doesn’t stick to its tightly organised schedule on the night. Despite her cool and calm nature, Tess’s most important job is to bring order to the Strictly chaos.
Because of her role as chief timekeeper, Tess’s presenting style all too often gets a bad rap. True, she does seem panicked when one of the judges goes off script and struggles with the off-the-cuff banter that makes Strictly feel so alive. But that’s because she knows it’s her job – and her job alone – to make sure the show runs like a well-oiled machine. If Anton du Beke spends too much time fawning over a foxtrot, it’s down to Tess to make sure the entire show gets back on track. On live television, every second counts.
Reliable, competent Daly will probably become part of the BBC’s regular presenters, manning The One Show, charity telethons and the like. But there’s also every chance she’ll stay away from TV – I can imagine her fitting in well at Radio 2 (where her husband Vernon Kay already works) or even diving headfirst into influencer life. After all, she already flogs L’Oreal, Wellwoman vitamins and her own swimwear brand. Once scoffed at by the TV elite, influencing is now more profitable than anything a budget cut addled BBC can offer.
Claudia, up in her “Clauditorium”, has the opposite job to Tess. The magic of Strictly doesn’t just happen – in between dances, there are crew members changing sets, hair and make-up artists transforming the dancers backstage and who knows how many more moving parts that we’ll never get to see. Should any of those take even a minute longer than planned, Claudia must fill time, making up talking points and wrangling the unruly gang of celebs and pros into something resembling television.
Claudia has already found success beyond Strictly with The Traitors, which returns on New Year’s Day (Photo: Cody Burridge/Matt Burlem/BBC/Studio Lambert)
She’s the fun mum of Strictly, just on the right side of daft with her overly long fringe and scribbled-on eyeliner – and she can get away with almost anything. It’s no wonder that she has already carved out a post-Strictly path. There are now two series of The Traitors on every year, and The Piano is now an annual fixture on Channel 4. It’s no coincidence that two of the most popular entertainment formats of the last five years feature the same woman.
There’s talk of Claudia getting her own talk show, but that would be a mistake. Becoming a cog in the Hollywood PR machine would only stifle her off-kilter silliness.
The smart move would be to do nothing – to just bask in the glory of The Traitors and The Piano. Claudia will have her pick of the best, newest formats on TV – but she will have to choose carefully. The public’s adoration doesn’t last forever, and in the entertainment industry, overexposure is the death of a career.
Wherever Tess and Claudia end up, they will do so because they are so beloved. Their tenure will no doubt be remembered as the Golden Age of the Strictly – I hope they go out with a finale as marvellous as they have been.
‘Strictly Come Dancing’ continues tomorrow at 6.35pm on BBC One
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