Strictly Come Dancing bosses had a 'major concern' before casting Claudia Winkleman

Strictly Come Dancing has been presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman for almost a decade now. Tess Daly has been a part of the show since 2004 and Claudia joined in after the late Sir Bruce Forsyth decided to take his retirement in 2013.

The two make a great pair and do a wonderful job presenting Strictly. However, did you know Claudia Winkleman was approached with a bizarre request by the then-controller of BBC One? Here’s what it was!

Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman approached with a weird request

According to MailOnline, when Claudia was offered the job she was met with a bizarre request. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Claudia recalled the weird rule she was forced to follow after being given the job.

She revealed:

I don't say this in a faux self-deprecating way. It is a machine. A steam engine. I'm not even a cog.

Danny Cohen gave me the job and phoned me up and said, "We’d love you to do it." I said, "Thank you so much, that is such an honour."

He added: "I’m just going to need a phone number from you" and I was like, "Oh yeah, OK, which one?" and he said, "Your hairdresser’s".

'I was like, "Bit weird, controller of BBC One".'

She added:

Two days later, James, who does my hair, said, "This guy called Danny phoned up to complain about the length of your fringe."

He (Danny) was like: "You can have this job but it’s just annoying, it’s down to your nose. You want to be on telly but you’re invisible".

Read MoreCraig Revel Horwood: Who was the Strictly judge with before getting engaged to Jonathan Myring?

Claudia Winkleman opens up about being the ‘women presenter’

Claudia also revealed that being the host of a show that’s presented by two women didn’t really ‘affect’ her. She didn’t feel that concerned as at that time, the Great British Bake Off was hosted by two women - Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

She explained:

I felt incredibly nervous at the time but the two women thing, the biggest show on television by miles at that point, ratings-wise, in recent history was Bake Off and that was hosted by two women.

So I was, like, I’m not even pulling on that string.

Read More

⋙ Strictly Come Dancing: Major battle is already taking between professional dancers

⋙ Strictly Come Dancing’s Ellie Simmonds warns the new cast ahead of this year’s series

Source Used

Daily Mail: Claudia Winkleman reveals the bizarre request she received by BBC boss after landing her Strictly Come Dancing job