I’ve loved Strictly – but if Claudia’s out, so am I

You need a treasure to replace a national treasure, says Kat Brown, and the scandal-ridden show now has a Winkleman-sized hole in its roster that few could fill. Is it time to say goodbye to ‘Strictly’?

The unthinkable has happened: Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly are leaving Strictly Come Dancing. Is it not foretold that when the raven-haired one leaves the Strictly tower, the BBC shall fall?

The pair announced their plan to depart at the end of the series in a joint Instagram video, saying they’d always decided that if they left, it would be together. I don’t believe that version of events for a second. It feels unfeasible to keep hiring Daly, whose main qualification for live television is looking nice in a Bella Freud suit.

No matter. At times of national crisis such as this, it is always tempting to plonk something extreme on the table. Axe the winter fuel allowance. War with France. Vote Reform. So, my turn: is it time to say goodbye to Strictly for good?

It has become a one-show scandal factory. Intensive rehearsals and close proximity mean that the “Strictly curse” of pro-celebrity romance has broken up several relationships. Two male dancers were investigated last year over allegedly harsh teaching practices. And then there was last year’s contestant, Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans, who was ditched by the BBC as a radio presenter this year after making inappropriate comments at the Strictly tour launch, and whose wandering hands made his dance partner, Katya Jones, visibly uncomfortable.

There was also disquiet at this year’s casting of Thomas Skinner, the JD Vance-endorsed wide boy from The Apprentice, who managed to create his own scandal before the show even started by revealing that he’d had a three-month affair shortly after his recent wedding. Podcast The Rest Is Entertainment has previously shared polling data showing how the enormous Strictly audience reflects wider voting intention: clearly, any swing towards Reform can only go so far, as Skinner was voted out at the first opportunity.

Any presenter can replace Tess Daly. But few people possess Claudia Winkleman’s intelligence, wit, and experience (BBC)

It was not ever thus. What I have always loved about Strictly is that it manages to achieve so much good, alongside the feelgood factor of unlikely contestants discovering a love of dance. Its inclusive casting of disabled, gay, Black and brown contestants over the past two decades has pushed this country’s understanding forward (as well as its soft power).

The Strictly audience does make its preferences felt, often to the detriment of brilliant contestants: women of colour, however high-scoring, often suffer in the vote compared to men. But as a rule, it is also genuinely heartening to see a nation come together and recognise that people they may not see in daily life are capable of as much as, if not more than, anyone else, and are just as funny, interesting, and “normal”.

Last year’s season, which featured the blind comedian Chris McCausland finding both his feet and the nation’s heart – and being incredibly funny in the process – was just extraordinary television. In divided times, and at its best, Strictly brings people together.

But it is no good for a show to limp on with its heart and soul ripped out. It happens, yes, but it is not good. Look at Top Gear. Look at Joey, which just became Friends without the friends. Perhaps, for once, money should not come before morality. Strictly is the BBC’s biggest show, but The Traitors has made Claudia its biggest star (and with the success of Channel 4’s The Piano, she has other irons in the fire). The Celebrity Traitors has well over double Strictly’s viewership – and, airing in the same season and boasting a popular live-action format, could easily fill its boots.

It has followed in the sensible line taken by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb, the showrunners behind last year’s Disney+ hit Rivals, who said their celebrity cast worked because they had a “no c***s” policy. No one comes across as one of those on The Celebrity Traitors.

Any presenter can replace Tess Daly. But few people possess Claudia Winkleman’s intelligence, wit, and experience. Or the ability to sweep controversy aside with one swish of her fringe. That gap presents a significant challenge to the BBC, especially with the former shoo-in, Rylan Clark, having blotted his copybook with some very non-Strictly comments on immigration earlier this year, and current judge Anton du Beke apologising for calling his partner in 2009, the actor Laila Rouass, “a P***” after she had a spray tan.

Where will the gravity to hold the show together come from? You need a treasure to replace a treasure, after all. It does make one ponder whether the conveyor belt of universally beloved luvvies at the Beeb suddenly looks rather thin. But that’s for another time. What’s McCausland’s availability for the next 11 years?