With the Strictly final taking place this weekend, many fans are still wondering who will be the show’s new hosts.Shelley Spadoni and Eilidh Farquhar Trainee Trends, Showbiz and Lifestyle Writer
18:27, 18 Dec 2025
The rumour mill continues to whirl as a frontrunner is said to drop out of running for Strictly host.(Image: Lia Toby/Getty Images)
Many fans of Strictly Come Dancing have been left disappointed as a favourite to take on the mantle as the BBC show host is no longer in the running. And with the final taking place this weekend (December 20), viewers are restlessly waiting to see who will replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Tess and Claudia announced earlier in the year that they would be stepping away from the BBC show after the 2025 festive special, which is set to air on Christmas day. With Tess having hosted the show for 21 years, and Claudia starting out on sister show It Takes Two, the new hosts will have rather big shoes to fill.
However, for those rooting for Alison Hammond to take on the role, these hopes have been squashed as she has renewed her presenting contract at ITV for This Morning. Despite appearing in the dance show herself back in 2014, the 50-year-old TV star is once again locked into her contract with the ITV daytime chat show.
According to a source at The Sun, the Great British Bake Off host is very content with her role at This Morning, where she presents alongside Dermot O’Leary every Friday. They added that Alison has “no intention to quit” to take on Strictly, reports the Mirror.
The source said: “Alison is a huge talent and no one was surprised she’s being looked at for Strictly. But she’s very happy at This Morning so, as far as anyone knows, has no intention to quit to take on the dance show — but there may need to be some juggling of the schedule.”
Alison Hammond has hit back at claims that she is on too many shows.(Image: Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Alison was one of the frontrunners to take on the role, with rumours circulating that she was one of the ten big names that are set to screen test next month for the role. The source went on to add: “No one is bigger than the show so whichever lucky pair land the jobs will be the ones who the BBC think will be the perfect accompaniment to the series.”
Other names that have been around the rumour mill include Bradley Walsh, Alan Carr, Alex Jones, Rylan Clark, Rob Rinder, Zoe Ball, Holly Willoughby, Amanda Holden and Angela Scanlon.
However, Alison has recently clapped back at any suggestions that she is currently on too many shows. She explained that she is good at saying no to jobs and has worked hard to get where she is today.
Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “If I need to rest up or a job doesn’t appeal, I won’t do it. I’m good at saying no. I turn down 10 things per day, no exaggeration.
“It looks like I’m on TV a lot, sure, but I stand out partly because it’s still not the norm to see a Black woman doing this. I don’t want to bring race into it but no one says that about Davina (McCall) or Ant and Dec.”
She added: “I’ve worked hard for 22 years to get here. That woman on TikTok is allowed her opinion. It keeps me grounded. I’m not a national treasure. I’m just me, doing a job that I adore to the best of my ability, trying to be better than I was yesterday.”
Back in October, Claudia and Tess announced they were leaving Strictly Come Dancing in a social media post. It 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. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day.
“We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’ but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza. Tess & Claud.”
The Strictly Come Dancing final will air at 7pm on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer, seeing George Clarke, Amber Davis and Karen Carney battle it out for the glitterball trophy.