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Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly(Image: BBC)

BBC boss Kate Phillips has revealed that Strictly Come Dancing’s new presenters won’t be announced any time soon as she shared an update on the process. The Chief Content Office for the BBC stopped by the Rest is Entertainment podcast earlier this week to answer various fan questions about the broadcaster.

One of the most-asked questions was around who would be replacing Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly on Strictly Come Dancing after the pair announced last month that they were quitting the show. “So many people have asked the question – which I’m not going to ask you – is who is going to be the next host of Strictly,” presenter Richard Osman said.

“What I will ask you instead in the spirit of that is when an opportunity like that comes up, what happens? What’s the process? Who is emailing you? What’s happening inside the BBC when you’ve got two slots to fill, what’s the process?”

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Kate Phillips appeared on The Rest is Entertainment this week

In response, Kate revealed that Tess and Claudia rang her before making the announcement, but worried that the news would leak. “That was very much Tess and Claudia’s decision and they did ring me to tell me what they were thinking. They were worried it was going to leak which we often have, so they wanted to announce it on their own terms,” she said.

“They are brilliant, brilliant hosts of that show and they have sparkly high heels that are going to be hard to fill definitely.” Kate added that the production team won’t be looking into replacing them until the New Year so that they can focus on this series.

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“In terms of the process next, the production team, BBC Studios and Sarah James [Executive Producer] and her team, they are concentrating on getting two shows out a week so we haven’t got time at the moment to start doing any screen tests or chemistry testing.

“We’ve got time so I don’t think we’ll really be looking at it until the New Year because we want to make sure we deliver a great Strictly series. Having said that, yes – my inbox has been inundated.

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Tess and Claudia will be leaving Strictly Come Dancing at the end of this series after more than a decade hosting together (Image: BBC)

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“I can’t say names obviously but it is one of the best gigs in television so we have had so many people who are keen to be considered which is great. We’ll think carefully about next steps on it but yes, there’s no room where we all go.”

As for whether any new stars would be ‘offer only’, Kate said that a chemistry test would be required to find the next two hosts.

“I think because it’s two roles and Claudia and Tess have had such a strong relationship, I think it would be hard just to hire someone cold without seeing how they are with the other person,” she said.