Claudia Winkleman on future Strictly exit: 'Tess Daly and I will go together'
Strictly Come Dancing co-host Claudia Winkleman has made a Thelma and Louise style pact with Tess Daly to leave the show together.
The pair have hosted the show as a double team since Winkleman replaced TV legend Sir Bruce Forsyth in 2014. Forsyth had hosted alongside Daly since the show’s inception in 2004, but stepped aside due to ill-health, before he died in 2017.
With big boots to fill, Winkleman moved over from Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two, and has proved popular with audiences, and apparently, her co-host Daly.
Speaking to The Mirror, the 47-year-old said: “Tess and I will leave at the same time. We’ve made that pact over pizza. We’ll go together whenever they’re done with us.
“Even if they phoned me now and said ‘You’re done’, I’d still think I have had the best career possible.”
Asked about their relationship and her Strictly future while talking to The Express earlier this year, Daly said: “Claudia’s my mate, I’ve known her for years and years - we grew up together on TV, it feels like that.
“I hope to present the show as long as I can. I absolutely love it and the excitement never fades because each year it feels brand new because of the new cast.
“There’s new adventures to be had on the dance floor and it’s completely unpredictable what will happen and, for that reason, it’s always thrilling. It never gets old.”
Read more: Strictly at Blackpool: King of Ballroom Anton du Beke gets his first 10s in 17 series of the show
However, Winkleman isn’t the only Strictly star who has their exit from the long-running dance show on their mind.
Veteran professional Anton du Beke has revealed he fears each series could be his final one.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” the 53-year-old said. “I’m walking through fields of gold. But it doesn’t mean I don’t worry.
“I work in a peculiar business called show and you always think it might end tomorrow.”