Richard Osman calls Alan Carr and Amanda Holden Strictly rumours ‘nonsense’

Speculation is rife over who will replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as the BBC hit’s presenters

Richard Osman has shared an update on the search for Strictly Come Dancing’s new hosts, as he called rumours that Alan Carr and Amanda Holden were offered the job “nonsense”.

Since Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly shocked the entertainment world with news in October that they would be departing the long-standing dance competition, the question of who will replace the presenting pair has been subject of endless debate and rumours.

As the presenters of their own BBC travel home renovation series, Alan Carr and Amanda Holden were originally reported to be in the running, until Carr claimed that they had turned down the job.

This was denied, however, by Osman, 55, on Thursday’s (29 January) episode of his podcast The Rest is Entertainment, where the former production company creative director refuted the rumours as “nonsense”.

“Of course, they didn't [turn it down]. It was never offered to them,” Osman, who was previously the creative director of TV production company Endemol UK and a panellist on Strictly’s sister show It Takes Two, said. “No-one sat in a room with Alan and Amanda and said, ‘Would you two like to present Strictly?’”

He continued: “I would be fairly confident in saying that it has not yet been offered to anybody. I mean, it will be in the next month or so.”

Alan Carr claimed that he and Amanda Holden had turned down the job (Getty)

Celebrity Traitors winner Carr, 49, recently took himself and Holden, 54, out of the running on the podcast Table Manners. There, he claimed that the pair had “said no ages ago”, saying the job would be better suited to “someone who really, really loves” Strictly.

Yet Osman argued: “They have not decided who’s going to host Strictly. And that’s a big old show. It’s a big old commitment. It has to be somebody who loves that show, probably someone who’s been involved in that show to some extent.

“You can have a wild card, but my understanding is no one’s in, no one’s out. Two men, two women, a man and a woman; everything is still on the table there.”

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Osman’s allusion to someone “involved” in the show could be interpreted as a nod to Zoe Ball, the radio presenter with a long history in the Strictly ballroom. After reaching the series three final in the 2005 competition, Ball went on to replace Claudia Winkleman as the host of It Takes Two in 2021 sitting at the helm for a decade.

Another former member of the Strictly “family” suspected to be in the running is Oti Mabuse, a former pro dancer and two-time winner whose sister Motsi still serves on the judging panel.

Other stars rumoured to be up for the top spots include Paddy McGuinness, current It Takes Two hosts Fleur East and Janette Manrara, and Strictly 2018 winner Stacey Dooley.