Strictly Come Dancing fans beg BBC to fix glaring Josh Widdicombe mistake

Strictly Come Dancing kicked off its first live show of 2026 tonight, and fans couldn’t help but notice something.

As new hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe did their thing, several viewers noted something odd.

Johannes was left at the top of the stairs doing Claudia Winkelman’s old job while Emma and Josh were downstairs by the desk.

But fans think this might be a waste of Josh’s skill set, leaving him feeling like a spare part next to Emma.

‘Erm, why isn’t Josh doing the top of the stairs bit? asked @Katie_Lewis_ on X.

‘He doesn’t need to be standing there interrupting the judges. Get rid of Johannes and put Josh up there. I hope #Strictly realises this for next week.’

@sarahlawson84 agreed, adding: ‘Sorry but Josh does not need to be downstairs with Emma.’

Meanwhile @zanecaspersz wrote: ‘I actually think JoJo and Josh need to swap places.

‘Josh can fill the comedy value more upstairs, while JoJo’s lack of hosting can pair nicely with Emma. I don’t mind two hosts downstairs. We just need to get over that.’

The three new hosts have faced a lot of criticism since the first show last week, most notably Josh and Johannes, who have been described as out of their depth and nervous compared to Emma.

Last week, a Strictly fan called Owen claimed that Emma was ‘outshining the other two’.

Others claimed that ‘three’s a crowd’ and that the three didn’t have enough to do, leaving one of them feeling like a’spare part’.

‘3 presenters just seems unnecessary, don’t see the point of it,’ Suzi wrote, while Sue added: ‘The intro was far too long and as for presenters, two’s company three’s a crowd!’

Josh, who arguably faced the harshest criticism, has admitted he felt nervous ahead of tonight’s live show.

‘What could possibly go wrong? Loads of things, but let’s not focus on them,’ he told the BBC.

‘I think it’s going to be really, really fun. It’s going to feel utterly surreal, just as terrifying as the first one. Will it ever stop being terrifying? I hope not, because hosting something like this should be the best kind of terrifying.’

Strictly Come Dancing airs on weekends on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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