Speculation is rife over who will replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing.

Vernon Kay was left frustrated over the ongoing speculation about who is set to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing. The iconic BBC duo announced they would be stepping down from Strictly at the end of this year’s series after co-hosting together for 11 years. In a joint statement, Tess and Claudia said they felt it was time to hand the baton over to someone new, sparking widespread speculation about who might replace them.

A number of names have been put forward, including Zoe Ball, Rylan Clark, Holly Willoughby, Bradley Walsh and even 2025 contestant La Voix – real name Chris Dennis. The drag queen was performing with Aljaž Škorjanec but was forced to withdraw from the competition due to injury.

La Voix, 45, was given a spectacular send-off during Sunday night’s results show, which didn’t feature a dance-off or elimination due to the RuPaul Drag Race star’s exit.

Discussing La Voix’s exit on his BBC Radio 2 show Scott Mills said: “Terrible news about the ankle, but who gets a send off like that on Strictly? Normally you have to dance awkwardly with your partner, and it’s not rehearsed.

“And the band sings ‘I’ve had the time of my life’ and that’s the end of that.”

While on the topic, Vernon began to slam ongoing speculation about who will replace Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, on Strictly.

The presenter began: “It’s hilarious really, since Tess and Claud announced that they will be leaving, all the dentists, 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?”

Scott, 51, responded: “No, I don’t think that.”

Vernon added: “Sometimes common sense when you put your fingers to the keyboard makes a big difference.”

Pressed on whether he could be the one to replace Tess and Claudia, Vernon joked: “I tell you who it is, it’s me and Rylan. There you go, done, simple.”

Scott pointed out that producers are likely more focused on the present series, leading Vernon to exclaima: “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.”