Strictly viewers renew calls to change hosts’ roles

Strictly Come Dancing viewers renewed calls to change the presenting roles during the programme’s Movie Week broadcast on Saturday, October 3, saying Josh Widdicombe should move from the ballroom to interview contestants backstage. The programme kept its existing arrangement, with Widdicombe and Emma Willis presenting in the ballroom and Johannes Radebe speaking with contestants in the Clauditorium. Posts on X cited by reports of the broadcast included viewers who wanted Widdicombe paired with Radebe upstairs, while Willis handled the ballroom segment alone. Some said Widdicombe’s comic style would be better suited to informal conversations with contestants than to the ballroom role. Other comments criticized the decision to keep the presenters in their current positions. One viewer, however, defended the arrangement and asked others to stop criticizing Widdicombe. The trio are presenting the BBC competition after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman left at the end of the previous season. In the new lineup, Willis and Widdicombe introduce performances and help contestants through the judges’ comments, while Radebe conducts conversations in the Clauditorium.