{"id":461466,"date":"2026-05-22T08:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T08:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461466\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T08:48:11","slug":"shirley-ballas-defends-new-strictly-presenting-trio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461466\/","title":{"rendered":"Shirley Ballas defends new Strictly presenting trio"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> head judge Shirley Ballas has defended the three new presenters<\/a> chosen to succeed recently departed hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, it was announced that comedian Josh Widdicombe<\/a>, broadcaster Emma Willis, and pro dancer Johannes Radebe will be presenting the forthcoming series as a trio.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Metro<\/a>, Ballas, who has served as the series\u2019 lead judge since 2017, said: \u201cI think it was a surprise to everybody that it was three [presenters] and not two, so now it\u2019s where they fit and what those little changes are.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, everybody loves JoJo [Radebe],\u201d she continued. \u201cHe\u2019s just a well-loved figure. He\u2019s been in [the UK tour of the stage musical] Kinky Boots; he\u2019s a professional dancer, but more than that, it\u2019s half his character. He wears his heart on his sleeve, so it\u2019s an absolute delight that we got him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ShirleyShirley Ballas on ‘Strictly’ (BBC)<\/p>\n

With the show transitioning from a presenting duo to a trio, the exact setup of the presenting duties remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he gonna be backstage? Is he a main presenter? Is he in the Clauditorium?\u201d Ballas asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not overly familiar with Josh Widdicombe,\u201d she added. \u2018I did meet him yesterday at [the ITV morning chat show] Good Morning Britain. Charming chap, so I\u2019ve been online and studied him a bit more, and he\u2019s funny, funny, funny, funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

This will not be the first time that Strictly has been presented by three personalities.<\/p>\n

Winkleman first joined the show, in 2010, having previously hosted the Strictly companion series It Takes Two. From 2010 to 2013, she formed a trio alongside Daly and Bruce Forsyth. <\/p>\n

Forsyth left the show ahead of its 12th series in 2014, and died three years later at the age of 89.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Willis, Ballas told the publication: \u201cWhat can we say about Emma? She\u2019s just a doll. I did [the ITV reality series] Cooking with the Stars with her, and I told her, \u2018I\u2019m so scared about cooking because I\u2019m a terrible cook,\u2019 and she looked at me and said, \u2018Think about those people on Strictly, Shirley. You can do it. I believe in you!\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my first interaction with Emma. So I sent her a message yesterday, and she replied.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe new \u2018Strictly\u2019 presenting trio (BBC)<\/p>\n

Ballas averred that the BBC had got the decision around the new presenting team \u201cright\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the BBC has really got this right,\u201d she said, remarking that the show had been given a \u201cfacelift\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m due one of them next year, but anyway\u2026 a facelift for Strictly! I think you\u2019re gonna find it highly entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winkleman and Daly\u2019s exit followed a string of high-profile controversies for the popular dance competition, some of which involved alleged mistreatment of contestants by pro dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima. <\/p>\n

Several pro dancers have also left the series ahead of the new run, with replacements set to be announced in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Strictly returns to BBC One later this year, with a start date yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-461466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}