She actually irritates me more than Bruce - and that takes some doing.

I wouldn't go that far, but, when Bruce and Tess have that very uncomfortable grapple At the start of the show I always feel that she feels very uncomfortable and only gets into her stride when talking to the celebs and dancers off stage. Is it just me?

Tess is just fine, she just needs a better co-presenter.

I love Tess. I like bossy women.

I agree as I said on other thread I vote for Natalie Robb to take over

Walking is a stride, jogging is a type of stride...when did "I babble stereotypical inanities but still have to look at this card to remind me what the next one is" become a type of stride?

They could do with a fresh start, including some fresh pro dancers.

I like Tess.

Tess is alright, She is good when its her and Claudia

Get rid of Brucie

Yeah she looks uncomfortable with Bruce but is really competent on her own, I'd like to see a brand new pairing completely though, but Tess deserves a medal

So are you more Murray/Robb or Wiggins/Enis?

Very much agree.

I agree too

Tess irritated me in the role she was given i.e. vacuously grinning female sidekick to self-centred doddery older male presenter. However she was so much better when upfront doing Bruce's job. And Claudia was much better than Tess in the tesspit.

If we hadn't seen Tess covering for Bruce I'd have been disappointed at this announcement, but she has shown good potential. Let's see how she copes with an entire series.

I would much rather Claudia was a presenter than Tess who I didnt particularly like, she is SO in love with herself. However almost anybody is better than Bruce in his later years, good luck Claudia!

I like Tess. She's great with Claudia so I'm looking forward to the new series

she might be better telling scripted jokes than trying to empathise with contestants and failing miserably

I love Tess I can't imagine the programme without her! She does have that sort of "mumsy" personality, especially when she reads off her lines, but she gives off a warm hearted feeling which is nice!

Tess will be fine this year.
I think she's been harshly judged on here.

Some people don't understand that she was having to hold the show together, because of the constant time wasting by a geriatric, who's useless with an auto-cue, as he was too vain to wear his glasses, won't wear an earpiece and was more concerned in grabbing the attention of the camera.
This meant her having to speak at ninety to the dozen at some times to catch up with the schedule and at the same time having to listen to a no doubt excited director issuing a flow instructions to her while they desperately tried not to let the show over-run.

Thankfully, she won't have to endure all that nonsense, again.

Yet looks drop dead gorgeous and is TALL and glamorous standing next to the Pros.

I just hope she relaxes into the Lead Presenter Role. Anyone who saw her chatting knowledgeably about the dancing on ITT a few years ago was stunned to discover she's far from an air head and is actually very eloquent. I just hope we see that side to her on the main show next series. Go Tess!

I hope the producers don't want her to deliver jokey one-liners. Comedic timing is hard and Tess isn't a natural - she should play to her strengths which are warmth, directness and not getting in the way of the flow between the end of a dance and feedback from the panel.

Claud is more naturally comedic but her interviewing style is so heavily laced with irony (even if it isn't meant) that it might begin to pall over the length of an entire series.

No doubt the team is having meetings and doing focus groups to decide on how Tess and Claudia will present the show. It will be interesting to see how different it is (if at all - it worked for me because they didn't get in the way of what I wanted to see / hear) from last year.