Claudia Winkleman joined as the presenter of Strictly Come Dancing alongside Tess Daly in 2014, but the pair announced that the most recent series of the show would be their last
Former colleagues of Claudia Winkleman have disclosed “what people at home don’t see”. The 54-year-old assumed presenting responsibilities for Strictly Come Dancing alongside Tess Daly in 2014.
However, the pair confirmed that the latest series of the beloved BBC programme would be their final one. This signalled the conclusion of Claudia’s tenure hosting the popular Clauditorium segments on the show.
Claudia became renowned for her mischievous behaviour whilst interviewing the celebrities and their professional partners backstage. Strictly judge Shirley Ballas reveals she would consistently have the cast in hysterics.
In the documentary, Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe, Shirley said: “Some of the antics she gets up to in the Clauditorium make me wet my pants. She picks up on everything, she’s not scripted.”
Shirley described how Claudia would turn up at rehearsals wearing “a pair of slippers, baggy pants, and a jumper”. She continued: “She’s as mad as a box of frogs.
“Even when we’re in the studio and the show is about to take place and I look at her, she’s all glam, and then the cameras move to Tess and she takes off her heels, runs up to the Clauditorium, flicking her Spanx and pulling them out of her little bottom, and running here, tossing her hair, she’s just bonkers.”
Strictly professional Karen Hauer added: “This woman is hilarious. She makes people giggle.
“What people don’t see is that when the couples are downstairs talking to Tess, she’s watching everything that they’re saying and she’s taking notes. As they’re coming up the stairs she’s telling all the dancers to clap for them. She’s also a cheerleader.”
Fellow professional Kai Widdrington also says there are “so many working parts” to Claudia’s role on the show that “people at home may not even see”.
He explained: “You’ve got people in her ear, she’s got a teleprompter, she’s got a couple, she’s got a celeb that might be emotional. She’s got the judges’ scores in.”
In October, Claudia and Tess revealed they would both be departing from Strictly. In a joint statement, they 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 we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.”
Last month, the Mirror reported that numerous celebrities, including The One Show’s Alan Carr and The Chase presenter Bradley Walsh, were amongst the frontrunners to secure the Strictly position. Alan Carr, Rylan Clark, Rob Rinder, Zoe Ball, Holly Willoughby, Amanda Holden, Alison Hammond and Angela Scanlon are understood to have participated in a screen test for the role.
Following her departure from Strictly, Claudia has made her comeback with The Traitors. The programme returns at 8pm this evening, before tomorrow’s climactic finale, which broadcasts at the slightly later slot of 8.30pm.
