Strictly’s Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman address fans on first live show after exit bombshell

Strictly Come Dancing co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned to the show on Saturday night for the first time since announcing they would be leaving

BBC Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman graced the dance floor for the first time on Saturday night following their surprise revelation earlier this week that they would be leaving the show.

The duo addressed their fans for the first time since releasing a video on Thursday morning, announcing that this series would be their swansong.

Tess has been a co-presenter of Strictly since its inception in 2004, initially alongside Sir Bruce Forsyth, and later with Claudia, who originally hosted the spin-off series, It Takes Two.

Kicking off the show, Tess informed the audience: “Just before we get started Claud and I announced this week this will be our last series of Strictly Come Dancing.”

Claudia added: “We want to thank you for your beautiful messages. We have got another eight weeks on this incredible show and a Strictly champion to crown,” reports Wales Online.

Tess added: “We cannot wait to spend the rest of the series with you, with our amazing couples and of course with these four – please welcome the judges.”

Tess and Claudia will continue to host Strictly until the conclusion of the current series.

They will also present the Christmas 2025 special. Speculation is now rife about who will step into their shoes.

Since their joint announcement on Instagram on Thursday, the pair have been flooded with messages of support from their Strictly colleagues and fans.

Written by Tess, the message declared: “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 we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to 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.”

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer