Strictly’s head decide Shirley Ballas admits it is going to be ‘unhappy’ to movie the BBC dance programme with out Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman because the hosts after their surprising exit
Shirley Ballas has revealed her true ideas on Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman quitting Strictly Come Dancing. The presenting duo introduced in October that they’d be departing the sequence this yr after over twenty years on the programme.
Whereas they did not give any indication as to why they made the choice to step again, the pair merely informed followers they had been passing over the “baton” to new presenters. However for head decide Shirley, 65, she admits that it is going to be “unhappy” to return to the dance studio with out the bubbly pair.
In a brand new interview, Wallasey-born Shirley has revealed she was “stunned” when she heard that they had been stepping down after 11 years fronting the BBC present. Winkleman, 53, and Daly, 56, had fronted the sequence collectively since 2014, and their final look presenting the present collectively was throughout its pre-recorded festive episode, which aired on Christmas Day.
“Everybody was stunned,” Ballas stated. She went on to inform Saga Journal, for his or her January problem: “I share the altering room subsequent to them, and they’re stuffed with giggles and laughter.
“Additionally they confirmed me the way in which from after I joined till now, so it is going to be a tragic day after they go.” Shirley, who admits she had no TV expertise when she joined the present, made her debut as head decide in September 2017. However whereas Shirley has appeared on 9 seasons of the present, she virtually give up the yr after she joined.
“I did not know if I needed the job again due to the intrusion, folks promoting tales, the fixed criticism,” she defined. But it surely was her son, fellow dancer Mark, who inspired Shirley to remain on the present. He informed his mom that the programme would give her a platform to shout about causes she’s obsessed with.
However whereas Shirley was shocked about Tess and Claudia’s choice to exit, the celebs of this years sequence discovered when the pair made a public announcement. “We might simply completed on Lorraine, and we simply checked out our telephones and we noticed it on social media,” actor Lewis Cope stated.
He added: “We had been so shocked. After which we had been informed later, it needed to be that approach, and so they could not actually give anybody a heads up.” This, nonetheless, hasn’t stopped a number of celebs being linked to the job. These embody Zoe Ball, who beforehand hosted It Takes Two, former skilled dancer Janette Manrara and Roman Kemp.
Nevertheless, Chief Content material Officer for the BBC, Kate Phillips, has been sifting by means of dozens of names. She stated on the Relaxation Is Leisure podcast that her emails had been “inundated” with folks sharing their curiosity.
“We’ve had so many people who find themselves eager to be thought-about, which is nice,” she stated. This yr, it wasn’t simply Tess and Claudia’s surprising exit which noticed a serious change to Strictly, the casting vote within the dance off additionally rotated between Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton du Beke.
“They referred to as me in regards to the thought and I cherished it,” she stated of the brand new choice. Shirley added: “It is onerous; very often there’s only a hair’s breadth in it, so it is smart to share it. And after I spoke to Craig [Revel Horwood], he stated, ‘Darling I have been ready 21 years to ship anyone dwelling.’ It made his day.”
The total interview is offered in Saga Journal’s January problem.
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