Shirley Ballas talks ‘moving on’ from Strictly after Tess and Claudia’s shock exit

Shirley Ballas discussed moving on from Strictly Come Dancing in the future, following Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s exit announcement last month

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has opened up about Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s upcoming departure from the BBC show. The presenting duo stunned fans and co-stars last month when they announced that the current series would be their last.

In a joint video announcement, Tess and Claudia said: “We have loved working as a duo, and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together, and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and every single person who works on the show.

“They’re the most brilliant team, and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing,’ but we will continue to say it to each other – just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”

Reflecting on their exit, Shirley said she believes the show “will survive” without them, but stressed that their successors need to be “seasoned professionals”.

She said: “Absolutely, it survived both Len Goodman and Sir Bruce Forsyth leaving, bless them both. Strictly is bigger than any of us – the celebrities, professionals, presenters, judges. It’s like Coronation Street in that no one is bigger than the show. I will miss Tess and Claudia very much, but sometimes in people’s lives, they feel it’s time to move on, and we have to respect that.”

Discussing her own future on the panel, the 65-year-old continued: “One day I’ll be ready to move on too, and that will be my choice.”

Describing Strictly as “an institution,” Shirley said it will continue to thrive as long as it brings joy to the public. Quizzed on who she thinks could replace the pair, Shirley kept her thoughts to herself, though noted that Rylan Clark is her mother’s favourite.

She added to Best Magazine: “What is for sure is that we need a pair of seasoned professionals for it. It’s going to take two very, very special people. And I think no matter who it will be, they will own it, and then we’ll move on from that era.”

Tess has fronted Strictly since its inception, initially hosting alongside the late Bruce Forsyth, before Claudia took over. Since their exit announcement, several names have been put forward as their potential replacements, including Alex Jones, Bradley Walsh, Zoe Ball, and Holly Willoughby.

Despite the speculation, Kate Phillips, Chief Content Officer at the BBC, recently confirmed that no decisions will be made until next year. Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, she explained: “The production team, BBC Studios, and Executive Producer Sarah James and her team are concentrating on getting two shows out a week.

“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 we deliver a great Strictly series.”