Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed its hosts and presenters for the 2025 series, and hey, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it! The BBC has revealed that the show’s hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will indeed be back for the new season, alongside head judge Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton du Beke.
Although fans have been pleased with the news, especially as the show celebrated the exciting announcement that Tess and Claudia had been awarded MBEs, others had some requests for changes to be made to the new series.
The Facebook post read: “We’ve been limbering up and practising our curtsies, ready for the new series of Strictly with our amazing judging panel, Shirley, Anton, Motsi and Craig and our incredible MBEs Tess and Claudia – Congratulations on your FAB-U-LOUS achievement!”
Taking to the reply section to discuss, one person wrote: “Isn’t it about time Tess and Claudia were taught a few dance moves to open the show… Their feeble little shuffle is cringeworthy!” Another person added: “Shirley looks stunning in colour. Any chance of Tess and Claud branching out into some colours other than black, white, gold and silver?”
Others were confused that Craig was returning, with one posting: “I thought Craig had handed in his paddles?” However, the reaction was largely positive, with one person writing: “Delighted Tess & Claudia are back. Congrats on the MBEs!”
The show will likely be returning in September, and the BBC has already revealed the dancing pros including reigning champion Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Aljaž Å korjanec, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas, and Vito Coppola will all be back for the new season – alongside two new pros who will be announced in due course.
Dianne won the 2024 series alongside her celebrity dance partner Chris McCausland, who was the first blind contestant to win the series. The pair have remained good friends since partnering together, and co-host the podcast Winning Isn’t Everything.
The pair also won at the 2025 Bafta Television Awards’ Memorable Moment award for their performance to ‘Never Walk Alone’. Dianne accepted the award solo while Chris was on tour, telling the audience: “Chris did have something he wanted me to say, and that is ‘After 22 years in comedy, he wins a Bafta for dancing!'” We can’t wait to see who she will be partnered with in the new series!