It was nice to see you, to see you…nice! After 11 series, Sir Bruce Forsyth has handed over the Strictly Come Dancing presenting baton (sequin-covered, naturally) to the fabulous Claudia Winkleman, she of the quick wit, monochrome wardrobe and delicately balanced fringe-to-eyeliner ratio.
Or, strictly speaking (ho ho), he’s handed it over to Tess Daly, who will assume lead presenter duties when the series returns this autumn. Good news for Tess – during her stand-ins for Brucie, she’s proven adept at keeping the show motoring along and looks far more comfortable with the autocue than improvising pesky chitchat.
The latter, of course, being Claudia’s specialty. She has a remarkable ability to make the mundane engaging, sardonically subverting talent-show tropes on both seven series of It Takes Two and four years of the Sunday results show.
