Comic says recording was 'joyful' compared to panel shows

Josh Widdicombe has revealed that he got the job presenting Strictly Come Dancing by sending a jokey text.

The comic had got to know the show’s executive producer Sarah James, while competing on the 2024 Christmas special. And on the day when Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced they were stepping down last October, he texted her to say: ‘All right, I’ll take the job.’

Speaking to The Times today, he feared he may have overstepped the mark, as James did not immediately reply.

But the next day she texted back saying is message had been the one thing that made her laugh on a tough day. ‘So I thought, "Well, I got away with that."’

Asked whether his friendly facetiousness was masking real ambition, the Last Leg co-host replied: ‘I don’t know. Was I unconsciously putting my hat in the ring with this text that was perhaps my greatest ever career move? I think that is something I will be dealing with with a therapist for the next 20 years.’

He told of how his first audition for the job was ‘rubbish’, saying: ‘Everything I said felt false. I didn’t know where to put my hands’ – but when he was teamed up with  Johannes Radebe and Emma Willis ‘everyone was on the same wavelength, everyone was laughing’.

And responding to reports that the pre-recorded launch show was chaotic, with many retakes, the comedian said that was the nature of a TV recording, adding: ‘It was just joyful compared to the comedy panel show world, where you spent three or four hours recording a half-hour show.’

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One at 7.25pm tomorrow.

Published: 18 Sep 2026