Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s exit should be the death of Strictly

They always promised to leave together – and just like that, Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly have quit Strictly Come Dancing.

I write this piece completely caught off guard. I am unbelievably shocked, even though it shouldn’t really come as a surprise.

It’s hit me harder than I thought it would, because ultimately, I know this is the beginning of the end of Strictly. And after 21 years, truthfully, this is the ending the show deserves.

Absolutely no one has the star power of Claudia Winkleman right now. She has somehow become more popular than the most popular show on television since The Traitors launched in 2022 – even more so with the staggering success of its celebrity version.

Tess has been the beating heart of Strictly Come Dancing ever since it launched in 2004, presenting the first 10 series alongside the late great Sir Bruce Forsyth. She’s hosted every single episode. It’s understandable she’s ready to move on too. 

Tess and Claud have strangely never really felt like a double act – despite cohosting one of the most consistently successful shows in British television over the past 20 years – and their breakup is a much sadder event than I expected it to be.

I came to Strictly late. It wasn’t until The X Factor had died its drawn-out, miserable death that I finally had the capacity to watch Strictly on a Saturday night. By that time, it felt like the only truly huge live-event TV still standing.

Regardless, even before I watched a single episode, it felt like it was part of my life. I had followed the results and watched the odd dance on YouTube.

When they were both on air, The X Factor and Strictly were vicious television rivals – more so than any other TV series before them, even the famously competitive soaps.

At its heyday, The X Factor was unstoppable, pulling in almost 20 million viewers for its live finals. This is a feat Strictly has never matched, and never will.

Simon Cowell saw dollar signs in 2011 and launched the abysmal US version with Cheryl Cole briefly by his side (her Geordie accent proved too difficult for American audiences and she was given the boot after one episode).

The entire judging panel was replaced (apart from Louis Walsh), and Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland took the seats of Simon, Cheryl and Dannii Minogue.

The change was too much for viewers to handle, and eventually The X Factor was less than half of what it once did. 

Ratings began to dwindle and never recovered, even when Cowell returned in 2014, and the show was eventually cancelled four years later

Strictly Come Dancing risks falling into the same trap unless it bows out gracefully with Tess and Claudia.

For more than two decades, Strictly has been an inescapable part of British pop culture. Its magic is in its camp, family-friendly fun that’s balanced with serious competition, and its life-changing moments and emotional journeys that captivate the nation. 

From the first same-sex dance to deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis’s Bafta-winning silent routine, right up to now with Down syndrome model Ellie Goldstein, who shows more growth each week than any contestant before her – Strictly remains a genuine source of national pride.

It’s also a moment that brings us together each autumn – and I’m just one of countless people who see it as not just a TV show, but a monumental moment that unites families. 

So I find it difficult to think of a single star who would be more perfect to host the show than Tess and Claudia – someone with the same pull and, more importantly, who makes sense.

Alan Carr, post Celebrity Traitors, is about to become one of the biggest bookings in television, but is far too silly for Strictly. Graham Norton could be perfect, but would he want to captain what could be a sinking ship?

It’s hard to imagine a world without Strictly, but I don’t want to see it crumble like so many shows before it. It deserves so much more than a desperate struggle to keep going.

It deserves to bow out as the greatest televised format of the century – a jewel in the crown of British TV, sold to more than 60 countries worldwide and responsible for some of the most magical moments of all time.

I know I’d miss Strictly like I’d miss a friend who’s set off for new adventures and might never return. 

But rather than watch it get dragged out like so many TV giants before it, killing its legacy in the process, I’d rather say goodbye now, when it can go out on the high it deserves.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.