Claudia Winkleman has finally spoken about her decision to step back from Strictly Come Dancing hosting duties.
Last year, in a short video posted to social media, Winkleman, 53, and Tess Daly, 56, announced they were quitting the hit dancing series.
Now, in a new interview, Winkleman has opened up about why the pair stepped down - and says they were starting to think about their exit a year before it happened.
“It occurred to both of us about a year before,” she told MailOnline. “The show deserves new. We wanted to leave when we were on an absolute high.”
Though favourites for the job include Zoe Ball and Rylan, Winkleman kept quiet about who might be replacing the duo.
Winkleman also said her exit had nothing to do with the scandal surround Amanda Abingdon and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice, which lead to a review into dancers’ behaviour on the show.
“It is a genuinely beautiful show to be part of,” she added. “Almost every single person who’s taken part is happy they did. So no, it wasn’t that.”
The presenter also said she sobbed with her husband, film producer Kris Thykier, after her “momentous” exit and final piece to camera.
Daly presented the series alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth when it launched in 2004 while Winkleman fronted its weekday companion show, It Takes Two.
Winkleman eventually moved on to host the Sunday night results show alongside Daly and joined the main show every Saturday from 2014, after Sir Bruce stepped down.
The 2025 final featured a number of tributes to the presenters, including from the Queen, as well as Mary Berry and fans of the show.
They were greeted by a standing ovation from the audience, which included Daly’s husband, broadcaster Vernon Kay, as they opened the episode.
In a tribute from Queen Camilla, read out by Revel Horwood, she paid tribute to the friendship between the hosts, saying: “I have often thought that Strictly is not so much a show about dancing as about friendships: the bonds forged, the struggles overcome and the joy shared in undertaking a joint endeavour.
“If that is true, then perhaps yours has been the greatest Strictly partnership of all.
“The warmth, compassion and sheer happiness you have radiated with and from each other has been at the heart of the show’s success.”
Next month, Winkleman will start hosting her own chat show, The Claudia Winkleman Show.
The talk show will also be made by So Television, the company who produce The Graham Norton Show.
“I can't quite believe it and I'm incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity,” she said when the show was announced.
