The BBC’s chief content officer has exposed the real reason Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly are exiting Strictly Come Dancing

Tess and Claudia quit Strictly earlier this year (Image: Getty)

When Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced this would be their last ever series presenting Strictly Come Dancing together, the showbiz world was left reeling. But now BBC boss Kate Phillips has exposed their real reason for exiting in an interview on The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Richard Osman and Marina Hyde.

She explained that it was “very much Tess and Claudia’s decision”, but said the timing for the statement was actually driven by worry – that the news would leak before they had the chance to tell their side of the story. Kate said: “They did ring me to tell me what they were thinking, but I think they were worried it was going to leak, which we often have, so they wanted to very much announce it on their own terms.

“But they are brilliant, brilliant hosts of that show. They have sparkly high heels that are going to be hard to fill, definitely.”

She explained: “In terms of the process next, the production team BBC Studios [and] all these great people who make it, they are now concentrating on getting two shows out a week. So we haven’t got time at the moment to start doing any screen tests or chemistry testing.

“I don’t think we’ll really be looking at it until the new year, because we want to make sure that we deliver a great Strictly series.

“Having said that, my inbox has been inundated… I can’t say names, obviously, but it is one of the best gigs in television. We’ve had so many people who are keen to be considered, which is great. We’ll think carefully about next steps.

“There’s no room where we all go – they literally told me and then it’s a series of… There’s no panic room. It’s about the press teams linking up and making sure we’re all aligned on how it’s being announced.”

Kate Phillips gave her honest thoughts (Image: Sky / YouTube)

Kate admitted that it will very much depend on those screen and chemistry tests to determine who gets the roles, adding: “I think because it’s two roles and because Claudia and Tess have had such a strong relationship, I think it would be hard just to hire someone cold without seeing how they are with the other person.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily about having a really big name – with shows like Strictly, format is king and no-one is bigger than that show. We’ve had amazing people come through it, but it survives because it’s a great format. It’s very much about the relationship between the future hosts.”

Richard Osman mused: “I absolutely won’t put words in your mouth, but I do think that Claudia and Tess understand that, actually, it’s probably a good thing to have somebody new doing it.

“They’ve done such an incredible job on that show, but actually you want it to still be on in 15 years time and sometimes it’s useful, and it’s lovely when it comes from the people themselves. When they’ve gone, ‘Do you know what, we’ve done our time’.”