She ruins the show and her mannerisms and inability to articulate in a professional way make me cringe.. I sense she is nervous, and lacks confidence, it shows she is not the ideal host of this show. I do not want to compare but Claudia is effortless and oozes confidence.

If you ever attend a tour show more than once a season the quips are identical. That suggests planning to me. No reason for me to suppose the TV show is not the same.

Improvising doesn't just happen, one prepares themselves what would be possible. On the spot not everything is spontaneous, even if it's supposed to look like that. I'd say they come to watch dress rehearsals and think about what they could say on the night.

For me Tess is at her most irritating when she talks to the celebrities after they've danced. She's like everyone's mum, with her Aw there there, yer nervous, yer Mums in the audience, yer from up North. I really feel for them when she has said they were wonderful, and then Craig shoots them down, coolly telling them how crap they were. I do think she means well though. She can on occasion be quite professional, although less so now Bruce has gone. She did a better job back then, I think, as his side kick reining him in, than being the top dog. She is a lovely looking woman, although for an ex model, a bit gawky.....rather like her husband, another professional Northerner.

I know we can't all like the same things, but I think Tess hosts Strictly brilliantly for a number of reasons.
She's driven the show for over a decade, as Forsyth famously refused to wear an earpiece, so it's hard to question her competence even if you don't warm to her personally.
I also think she learned from the Forsyth years that the couples really are 'the stars of the show' in a way he only paid lip service to. She isn't a big personality and she doesn't assume it's 'her' show in the way he did. Her job is to keep everything running smoothly and to encourage a good atmosphere in the studio.
Her lines and gags are clearly written for her, but kept to a minimum as she doesn't have delusions of being a comedian, but her ad lib comments and remarks are clearly made in a spirit of being on the side of the couples and the audience.
When judges make negative comments, it's quite right that she should be sympathetic to the dancers, as to have both judges and presenters being critical would create an adversarial and bullying atmosphere that Strictly is quite rightly anxious to avoid.
On the whole, I think she does a great job.
(Though the same can't always be said for her stylist)

I just 'Mute' her now or Fast Forward. She is, as someone so rightly said, part of the furniture.

It's the only job she will ever have because, as you so rightly say Randysback, no one else would hire her. She's too dumb.

The mass GBP like her because she is so unthreatening, is a bit common (they hate posh) wears lots of (hideous) frocks and makes them feel postively brainy in comparison. She's like nice safe magnolia paint

Toss is the nice dim girl next door with a lovely smile who never challenges them and makes them go 'Ahhh'.

You either love her and think she's sweet, or you fast forward.

I haven't bothered with anything she says for years. I wish her well. I hope she has a good pension worked out for when this one spot on SCD is well and truly over

Len - and Bruno to some extent, but mainly Len - used to use exactly the same jokes/comments/off the cuff quips on Dancing with the Stars a week or so before spontaneously using them on Strictly.

She's a presenter of one of the biggest BBC programmes. I'd say if she doesn't spend it all on sweets she'll be alright even if she'll never have another job.

Well exactly.
Wiith a gig like that, plus the odds and sods she gets from modelling, writing and occasional other tv work, she doesn't need to be uberambitious while her kids are young.
One can't assume that she hasn't been asked to do other work.

I agree.

She got nine O levels as well so I reckon she can always learn new skills if she needs or wants to.

Pre-empting Craig's response with a 'don't spoil it Craig' because only positives are ever needed in this show. She is appallingly bad

cant go her dresses , and last nights was awful, what was that silly white bandage round the top.. and then the mirror belt round the middle.. sorry Tess but with your cash Id have someone help with selecting ideas for my dresses..

xaa
I agree, my family cant stand Zoe either, its their voices.tess is fine. Script is naff though

I also think Len's "Jay's fluid" joke went right over her head, like everything does.

I'll second that! Zoe and Claudia would be great. Tess seems to want to stir the nerves up with the celebs. She made a point of reminding Kirsty of her first week nerves. No one needs that to happen to them, it's nerve racking enopugh.

Zoe - yes absolutely

Claudia - absolutely not. She is pretty terrible propped up by Tess. Zoe, being even better than Tess, would make her look even worse.

I definitely press the FF button

And occasionally the FFS one