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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n So\u2026 it\u2019s finally arrived: judgement day for Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> 2.0. The departure of beloved hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman<\/a> was always going to be a monumental shift at the BBC series. It\u2019s not just the new presenters \u2013 Johannes Radebe<\/a>, Emma Willis<\/a>, Josh Widdicombe \u2013 that signal a new era for the show. Between fan favourite pros getting the boot<\/a>, a new online companion show<\/a> and even changes to the pairing process<\/a>, this is the biggest shake-up Strictly has experienced since Ed Balls\u2019 \u201cGangnam Style\u201d salsa.<\/p>\n While viewers were technically given a glimpse of these changes during last Saturday\u2019s pre-recorded launch show, everyone knew that the first live show would be the real test. Would the show maintain its sparkle given the lack of major stars among the cast? Would the audience take to the new dancers? And when it came to the new presenters, would three prove to be a crowd?<\/p>\n I\u2019d say \u201cyes\u201d to all. Lots has been written about Strictly gaining an extra presenter, but any judgement up until Saturday has always been theoretical. It was hard to imagine how the show would work, but that didn\u2019t mean it wouldn\u2019t. Actually, this could have been an opportunity to mix up the format and accommodate three hosts with distinct roles. But instead, we saw what was long speculated: Radebe doing the post-dance debrief in what was once called the Clauditorium (the Johann-arena?) while Widdicombe and Willis stayed on the dance floor, splitting one role into two for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n The former, for the most part, worked \u2013 I mean, it was always going to. A former Strictly pro himself, Radebe could soften harsh critique from the judges and offer his own dancer\u2019s judgement on their routines. He\u2019s clearly beloved by the other pros, all of whom were visibly ecstatic to see their \u201cJojo\u201d get the top job. Some timing issues will need ironing out, as the beginning of Radebe\u2019s links were repeatedly missed while the contestants legged it up the stairs, but the man\u2019s got charm by the bucketful. Despite all the insistence that the new presenters were not directly taking over from either of their predecessors, he felt like a perfect Winkleman replacement.<\/p>\n Down on the dance floor, things were less smooth sailing. On paper, I can understand the impulse to cast Willis and Widdicombe as a duo. She is the consummate presenting professional setting up the jokes, he the cheeky chappy landing the punchline. It worked for Daly and Winkleman, and in the scripted portions of Saturday, it worked here too. But while Winkleman is a very funny person, and a funny presenter, she\u2019s not a comedian, and that\u2019s the problem Widdicombe was facing..<\/p>\n As soon as he and Willis strayed from the script \u2013 usually while they were comforting the contestants post-dance \u2013 things started to go haywire for the comic. Ultimately, I put it down to strong comedic impulses preventing him from being a good presenter. Whether he was talking over Willis (this happened a lot), clapping back at Shirley Ballas or trying to cover up Will Best\u2019s nipples, Widdicombe was constantly \u201cyes and\u201d-ing. This gag-at-all-costs attitude works for comedy or even solo presenting, but in a group, it felt awkward and stilted.<\/p>\n Despite this, the opening show appeared to be operating as normal. Sure, the new logo and opening credits looked strangely amateurish, and I\u2019m not sure anyone asked for Movie Week to be bumped forward to week two, as was announced at the end of the episode. But the things that have always worked on Strictly worked, from the public quickly seeing promise in the new pros (Maddie Ingoldsby, Mark Karmalita) to a likeable new underdog already being crowned<\/a> (YouTube star John Nellis, with an astonishingly impressive week one foxtrot).<\/p>\n Still, Strictly is a show that makes judges of us all, and it\u2019s the presenters people are absolutely going to be talking about. The trio have previously said that they\u2019ll all be trying out different roles throughout the series \u2013 while Radebe seems made to fill Winkleman\u2019s shoes, maybe Widdicombe would do better in the more casual spot away from the main stage. But that doesn\u2019t help the feeling that he is a problem the show needs to solve. Like many fans, I hoped the first episode would give an answer to the obvious question: why three? 15 dances later, I\u2019m still none the wiser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 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The new trio: Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe (BBC)<\/p>\n![\"Widdicombe's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-22-43-24.png\")
Widdicombe’s comedic hijinks proved an unfortunate distraction (BBC)<\/p>\n