I think they are ok, as hosts. Tess can only really work from a script and is like a 'mammy' with Claudia who she has to keep an eye on because she can be a bit of a wayward child!
Im delighted that Tess no longer goes on about the male pros/celebrities 'guns'! If you have ever watched DWTS, Tom Bergeron is the ideal type of host but unfortunately i can't think of anyone over this side of the water who resembles him!

I just wish that the celebrities and ex pros would keep away from the tabloids! Im slightly sick reading interviews given by them or tell all books being written. Jamelia last year almost single handedly brought down the show when she was sent home! Thats one thing i have noticed this year is the amount of tabloid trash written about the show - X Factor levels at this stage!

Give her a chance.... personally the drooling doesn't bother me

I agree, they do the job competantly enough. Tess's fake sympathy gets on my wick when she says goodbye at the end though.

Bruce getting irritated was part of the joke...did you not get that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz3Ej-fYjsM

"Keeeeep dancing..."

I think Cat Deeley might be a good replacement for Tess. She seems to have more warmth and an ability to be off the cuff whilst and she wouldn't encroach onto the Claudia "wackyness". I love strictly, but there are things that could be tweaked without ruining the show. However, my priority would be more suitable music and less comedy VTs first.

Yes, I could go with Brydon or Michael Ball or Barrowman or Patrick Kielty - anyone really who is used to being the frontman for a live show. People keep praising Tess for being good with the links which is a basic requirement of a job that requires so much more than technical competence

Now that's a good idea. She is brilliant on SYTYCD and Patrick could come with

I noticed a bit yesterday when the audience erupted over what Tess was saying and she carried on with what she was saying with only very little pause. There is no real performer in Tess, independent thinking, or experience of working the crowd. Most people in touch with what they were reading would have acknowledged the audience or repeated a part of the phrase if only because the noise might have distracted the viewer. Tess will only ever be the straight woman doing exactly what she's told. And the BBC are probably satisfied with that; Claudia is there to provide the personality.

Sorry, when I said 'get closer' I meant she is trying to fix them up as romantic couples. Didn't make myself clear. But as you quite rightly said Tess has to be positioned correctly and has to listen to people telling her what to say. Trouble is I think she has trouble understanding what they mean/say and she slows right down. Whereas Claudia just goes for it.

I couldn't. All are appalling and smug.

I agree totally and to be honest if I watched it all the years Bruce presented it when I never could stand him then I cope with Tess Daly.

I like Claudia my brother doesn't but show me a universally loved presenter and I'll show you a flying pig. Graham Norton, Brucie and John Barrowman all totally marmite.

I really don't have a problem with the Tess/Claudia combo. I certainly find it moves along more smoothly and far less annoyingly than in Brucie's time.

Tess is clearly an absolute professional, which some people might perceive as 'bland' but in fact she's always driven the show as Bruce refused to wear an earpiece.
Claudia's a brave choice, but it absolutely works for me.

If anything will scupper the show, it's the micromanagement of the producers whose poor music choices and inane VTs aren't nearly as clever as they think they are.
That and their determination to pick a scapegoat to be This Year's Widdecombe,
I'd like to see if either Ed or Rinder have improved at all, but they just get to do the comedy turn week in, week out,

And the simple fact that too many of the Slebs were pretty good dancers right from Week 1.
If the show is about anything, it's about 'The Journey'.
Seeing training footage and trusting the Pros to select music that suits the strengths of their partners would re-enforce the journey aspect, but that's slowly trickling away now.

Both girls do a good job . That's all you need . They do not distract or interfere with the main show, you can just enjoy .

Bruce became annoying and I used to feel embarrassed for him . He should have retired sooner .

Agree totally with the 1st post. In desperate need of new hosts. Tess and Claudia are not experienced enough to host a top entertainment show.

Agree. When Tess and Claudia introduce the contestants as "Strictly stars" they are right, it is the contestants who should be the focus, not the presenters. Tess and Claudia don't try and make it their show unlike the previous host. Some of the suggestions on this forum for alternative hosts would do that too and if they were brought in would treat it as an invitation to make it their show.
Remember also that it was Tess to first give credit to and name the singers on the show, rather than just name Dave Arch.
I think Tess and Claudia are doing just fine.


I think an awarding winning writer in TV once said something like "if I want to see how rubbish I am I just go on the internet".

I see someone suggested Barrowman up thread.
As far as I recall he hasn't been near Strictly since his embarrasing (sp?) faux pas when he was on the Friday panel in the Natalie Gumede year.
He was asked who he thought was in danger of going that week. He said that Natalie WOULD go as the public hated her because she was a ringer. Haven't seen him since on there, although he was supposedly a superfan and being lined up for after Bruce.
He'd be truly awful anyway. He'd make it all about him.

The BBC boxed itself in a corner when they allowed Brucie to take the results show off and had Claudia fill in for him. I know she was already on the payroll and 'part of the strictly family' presenting It Takes Two but I always thought she was pretty bad on there anyway. She used to have Len on the show almost every week and she would never really take in what he was saying and that should of been a sign of what was to come.The more she features the more annoying gets.I suppose you either get her sense of humour or you don't, and I am very much in the camp of the latter.I think her humour even comes across as quite rude and patronising at times.

I recently read in the paper one of the producers say that Claudia comes in a changes the script to add all the silly jokes and the producers just have to included them as supposedly "she is so funny". If that's the mentality then nothing is going to change.

I think they should of realised when Brucie turned into Blakey off on the buses(fluffing things, moaning about "going up the stairs, down the stairs", chasing members of MCfly off the stage) that his time was up.As much as respect Bruce, they could of just had a quiet word and mutually agreed to part ways and brought in a permanent proper host as replacement and just left Tess in the role she had. I didn't really have a problem with Tess upstairs because she just kept thins light and fluffy but now as the main host, she just isn't really upto the job. Far too wooden, the same phrases over and over again and poor interaction with the judges and dancers.

I wouldn't be sad to see either of them replaced but I just don't think it's happening anytime soon.

You are so right. The. BBC are boxed in. Tess will never leave and Claudia will go on playing at being an irritating child.

No because it wasn't funny. I've never liked Bruce's humour because of that it always had an edge or an ego to it which I never found humorous just unpleasant.

Since being on the nice and nasty celebs forum though I take a public persona with a pinch of salt - Bob Monkhouse who always came as a smarmy slight misogynistic creep in his stage persona was apparently a lovely man in real life.

Especially the asinine, puerile time filling VT's.


If they need so much time to dress the set for the next turn, try simplifying the set.. Too many props and pointless things anyway.

At the very least return the VT's to training sessions where the relevance is clear and obvious.