Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly has fronted the BBC dance competition since it first hit screens back in 2004 and has since seen the show evolve through the years
This year’s Strictly Come Dancing is truly bedazzling audiences with standout moments, including Tasha Ghouri nailing her first 10 for a Charleston in week four and Jamie Borthwick taking top honours on the leaderboard with his Paso Doble, reports OK!
Yet, amidst the escalating competition from this season’s stars, host Tess Daly has once expressed her concern over the show’s longevity. The seasoned TV anchor, 55, who has been at the helm of Strictly since its 2004 debut, has encountered countless celebs who have strutted their stuff in the ballroom, vying for the coveted Glitterball trophy. However, in a throwback interview, Tess shared her perspective on what lies ahead for the programme concerning its star line-up, hinting at an impending snag.
Back in 2013, speaking to Radio Times, she confessed: “We never thought Strictly would last this long and I don’t want it to ever end,” adding tersely: “The celebrity pool is getting smaller.” She also outlined: “We must have gone through 150 and we pride ourselves on a higher class of contestant. We have standards to maintain”.
Over a decade since the interview, Tess continues to host Strictly, with Claudia Winkleman joining her in 2014 after show legend Sir Bruce Forsyth left. However, many fans may not recall that Tess took a brief break during the second series to give birth to her daughter, Phoebe, who is now 19-years-old. Tess was temporarily replaced by Natasha Kaplinsky, the winner of the first series, for the initial episodes of the second series.
Natasha, a newsreader and TV presenter, had won the inaugural series of Strictly alongside her professional partner, Brendan Cole. She returned in the second series to co-host with Bruce Forsyth while Tess was on maternity leave. Nowadays, Tess and her husband, radio and TV presenter Vernon Kay, are rarely seen with their children.
The couple have two daughters, Amber, 14, and Phoebe, 19, and only occasionally share pictures of them on social media. Vernon currently hosts his own mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2, while Tess is busy with presenting duties on Strictly. In a 2022 interview with OK!, Vernon revealed why he has never danced on the show himself. “I’ve never been asked, to be honest with you,” he said.
Could this be due to a potential conflict of interest, given Tess’s role as presenter? “I never thought of that,” he admitted. “I’m good friends with many of them, I play golf with Anton. So maybe that is why they haven’t asked me. I do enjoy the process of getting to know the dancers, I enjoy watching their rehearsal tapes and I enjoy sitting down with Tess and watching It Takes Two.”
