The iconic phrase “keep dancing” has long been synonymous with the show.

However, fans and insiders of Strictly Come Dancing were taken aback this morning when Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced their intention to leave the show after the current season.

The surprising news, disclosed via a joint statement from 56-year-old Tess and 53-year-old Claudia, left even those who worked closely with the beloved hosts astonished. The pair have developed a strong friendship throughout their years on the show.

Tess shared a video on Instagram where the duo explained their decision to move on.

In the video, Claudia stated, “Hi, it’s Claud and Tess. There have been some rumblings and we want you to hear this from us.” Tess continued, “We have news. After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly, we have decided that the time is right to step aside and pass over the baton.”

‘The very sparkly baton!’ Claudia added.

Tess explained: ‘It’s been a huge part of our lives, hasn’t it? Since our children were literally babes in arms and now they’re young adults – and I think genuinely we have cherished every second.’

Claudia then said: ‘We have. We’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and just want to thank the Strictly team because Strictly is the people who make it.’

Claudia Winkleman, 53, also hosts BBC series The Traitors and spin-off Celebrity Traitors, and Tess Daly, 56, who first joined the series back in 2004 alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth

Claudia and Tess confirmed their exit from the show in an emotional video

‘They come from very different backgrounds,’ says one of their pals. ‘Tess was a model, Claudia went to Cambridge, but they have the most wonderful friendship’

In their joint statement, the stars added: ‘We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.’

Despite rumours suggesting that it was Claudia who decided to go, with Tess following suit to avoid the humiliation of being left behind, friends of the pair say they began discussing the idea of leaving a year ago and were ‘in cahoots’ every step of the way.

‘It’s tiring for them,’ reveals one source. ‘It’s a long show – hours of live television every Saturday night – which has consumed their lives for many years now. It’s all-consuming – and they hit that point together.’

Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, Tess and Claudia’s last deal was signed in February – but for just one year rather than two, like previous deals.

However, while those close to Claudia strongly insist she simply felt it was time to go, today the Daily Mail can reveal that there are top-secret plans being discussed ‘at the highest level’ at the BBC for Claudia to host a prime-time chat show.

Sources say that the programme is going to be ‘one of the main priorities’ at the Corporation in the coming months.

One said: ‘There is a glitzy, super-high-end chat show in the works for Claudia. It’s Jonathan Ross-esque but with the biggest stars and much more classy than Jonathan’s.

‘They want the big names, and huge sums of cash are being thrown at it. It’s the perfect job for Claudia, the BBC love her. She’s so good at interviewing and is regarded as being up there with the greats such as Terry Wogan and Michael Parkinson.

‘Claudia is now seen as upmarket BBC talent with huge appeal across generations, who will make a brilliant chat show host. There is much excitement – and of course juggling that with Strictly would be tough, and Claudia makes no secret of the fact she adores spending time with her family.

‘The BBC are of course keen to keep her away from ITV, so giving her this massive headline gig is a way of helping her do much more with them than Traitors. There is huge, huge excitement about it: it’s going to be a trailblazing programme hosted by a woman, and it will be on television some time next year.

‘It’s all hush-hush right now – the BBC have been trying to keep it all very quiet. But this will catapult Claudia into the stratosphere.’

It’s understood that the programme will not clash with The Graham Norton Show which currently airs on the BBC in the autumn and early spring (and that Claudia guest presented at the beginning of this year).

Tess and Claudia’s Strictly departure was such a shock that even the Prime Minister’s spokesman took time out from the daily Downing Street lobby briefing to address it.

‘Strictly Come Dancing is a much-loved show – and of course he [the PM] wishes Claudia and Tess the best for the future,’ they said.

Their departure is the latest in a string of headaches for Strictly bosses, who have suffered a series of scandals in recent years – from Graziano Di Prima kicking his partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals to Amanda Abbington claiming Giovanni Pernice bullied her (most of which was deemed untrue during a formal investigation) and more recently claims of drug-taking by some of the professionals.

Now Strictly insiders say they are ‘desperately trying not to see this as more chaos’.

One adds: ‘It is a blow, of course. Tess and Claudia are a huge part of the show and will be missed.

‘But it is a chance for a reset and it’s actually exciting to see who might come next. It will be different but the show will go on. It attracts seven million viewers on Saturday and Sunday nights to the BBC. There is, quite frankly, nothing else to go there [on the schedules] anyway, even if it wasn’t successful.’

‘It’s all hush-hush right now – the BBC have been trying to keep it all very quiet. But this will catapult Claudia into the stratosphere,’ TV insiders tell Katie Hind and Alison Boshoff

Strictly has been a game-changer for both women’s careers. And while Claudia, who began on TV on the now-defunct ITV show Liquid News, is more in demand today than her co-star, it was Tess who launched Strictly back in 2004 alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth, while Claudia fronted the BBC Two spin-off show, It Takes Two.

However, in 2014 she took over from Sir Bruce who hung up his dancing shoes – three years before his death at the age of 89.

Tess and Claudia made history as the BBC’s first female presenting duo, and formed a close bond away from the cameras.

‘They come from very different backgrounds,’ says one of their pals. ‘Tess was a model, Claudia went to Cambridge, but they have the most wonderful friendship. There was no way one could do it without the other now, it wouldn’t be right. Of course, Claudia is more in demand but Tess has had a great career and has loads of other projects going on.’

Another source adds: ‘Traitors has been exploding with the Celebrity series. I think Claudia feels she’s done her time on Strictly now – it’s as simple as that. Claudia was always leaving after this series: Strictly consumes her for three months. Claudia is not a workaholic at all and likes to balance her schedule by spending time with her kids and husband Kris at home.’

The love between the pair was clear for all to see in their video this morning.

It was, say BBC sources, important that they ‘bigged up’ Strictly in their statement after so many scandals. Tess and Claudia were happy to oblige.

Claudia said in a short video that the pair were ‘loving this series. We are going to have a brilliant series to come and we can’t wait to get to Blackpool’.

Tess added: ‘And we can’t wait to do that show dance that we have long dreamt of… we’ll be doing it together.’

Of course, Tess and Claudia’s exit now leaves vacancies for two of the most prestigious jobs in television.

And currently the industry is awash with chatter of who will fill the women’s shoes.

One suggestion is Holly Willoughby, who was first linked to the job two years ago in The Mail on Sunday. She has been on the BBC’s watch-list for some years and bosses are aware that it would take a significant role to get her there.

While Claudia, who began working on the now-defunct ITV show Liquid News, is more in demand today than her co-star, it was Tess who launched Strictly back in 2004

Tess and Claudia made history as the BBC’s first female presenting duo, and formed a close bond away from the cameras

She is close to some of the Corporation’s most senior executives courtesy of her husband Dan Baldwin, who produces major BBC programmes including Saturday night fixtures The Wheel and Gladiators.

BBC chiefs have long been keen to have Holly and Bradley Walsh presenting together, as they did a pilot back in 2019, Take Off With Holly & Bradley.

A series was commissioned but was never made due to Covid.

‘This would be the ideal way to get them together,’ says a TV insider. ‘Bradley is about as close as you can get to Brucie these days.’

However, some point out that Holly may struggle to get the job due to her previous role hosting Dancing on Ice, which is often referred to as ‘poor man’s Strictly’.

Alan Carr’s name has been thrown into the mix too, as has This Morning and Bake Off presenter Alison Hammond.

Sources say that about six months ago, producers started talking about how great it would be to get Alison on the show.

‘The feeling is that she is very representative of modern Britain,’ said the source. ‘They want to get some more fun into the show, and they also want it to be more diverse. She is in with a good chance, if she wants it.’

Others suggest that Strictly needs a host who has dancing experience or a connection with the show.

Therefore, industry insiders suggest that another option could be to bring professional dancer-turned-judge Anton du Beke off the judging panel. 

There has also been chatter surrounding the much-loved Janette Manrara, a professional dancer who now fronts It Takes Two alongside former contestant Fleur East.

And talking of which, some former celebrity competitors could step into the role, such as ex-Mis-Teeq singer turned Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon. 

‘There are so many names being thrown out there, but it probably won’t be announced until next spring,’ says a BBC source.

One question on the lips of Strictly fans is why Tess and Claudia decided to announce their departure now – a third of the way in to their final series.

There has been much speculation that their exit will derail the show – but friends say the pair decided to make the announcement now as they wanted to end on a high.

One insider tells the Daily Mail: ‘Strictly is rating better than last year and had a 55 per cent audience share last Saturday, which is very, very impressive. Tess and Claudia wanted to get it done and dusted so they can enjoy the last series and see it as a swan song.

‘They also decided against doing it at the end as they thought it would take the glory from the show’s winner. The priority is to hand Strictly over to the new hosts the best way possible. Tess and Claudia believe that the show will go on and that Strictly keeps dancing for many years to come.’