Strictly's Claudia Winkleman on the show being 'completely run by women'

06 March 2024 , 00:00

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Claudia Winkleman has spoken about Strictly Come Dancing, which she co-hosts with Tess Daly (Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)

Claudia Winkleman believes the secret to the success of Strictly Come Dancing is that its top team is female-led.

The series is overseen by executive producer Sarah James, who took over in 2019 after working on the BBC show for five years. Strictly has been directed by Nikki Parsons since 2006, with Jo Wallace its commissioning editor since last year.

Claudia, 52, has hosted the main show with Tess Daly, 54, since 2014, and believes the prominence of female talent is one of the best assets of the show. "Everybody has worked there for years, so we are a proper gang and it is a show - no offense - completely run by women," she says. "So the director, BAFTA award-winning woman; the exec producer, a woman; our commissioning editor, a woman.

"There are men and they are obviously excellent, but it is ... we've been through all kinds of things together, whether births or meeting someone or breaking up ... so Strictly feels ... I know it's a show on the telly, but it does feel like family." Claudia went on to say that behind the scenes is also homely. "They've given the dressing rooms a zhuzh," she told Nick Grimshaw and chef Angela Hartnett on their Dish podcast. "I've got a chair with peacock fabric."

The Traitors presenter and hubby Kris Thykier have three children, Jake, 21, Matilda, 17, and Arthur, 10. And her family is the reason she is stepping down from her Radio 2 show, she added. "Here's the thing, and it's such a boring cliché so I apologise, time is going too fast," she said. "My daughter is getting ready to leave home and she was three about five minutes ago. I still have a little one who wants to be with me. I don't know how long that will last, I just need to be at home more."

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