Dianne Buswell took to social media to ask a question about Tess and Claudia’s exit from Strictly Come Dancing. Earlier today, the two presenters announced they will be stepping away from their roles at the end of this year’s series. They’ve both presented the main show and the results show together since 2014.
Since the news was announced, Strictly stars and fans of the show have rushed to send their good wishes as well as express their disappointment over their exit. Many fans said the show “won’t be the same” without its two leading ladies who have been at the forefront of the programme for over a decade.
Dianne Buswell was among the long list of professional dancers to speak out about the news. The Australian pro was partnered with Stefan Dennis on this year’s series until he was forced to pull out of the show due to health reasons.
In a post on Instagram, Dianne shared a throwback photo of herself stood beside Tess and Claudia with her partner from last year Chris McCausland. Dianne won the show with the Scouse comedian, as he became the first blind contestant to take part and lift the glitterball trophy.
Dianne addressed the sad news as she captioned the post: “Tess and Claud genuinely the coolest big sisters ever! So lucky to have got to work with you both for all these years ! You will be missed dearly.
She added: “Just a question does this mean you can now compete on the show if so I bags the all girl partnership ??? Aussie love [red love heart emoji].”
Fans rushed to the comments after hearing Dianne’s suggestion about the possibility of Tess and Claudia taking part in the show as contestants. Although nothing has been discussed as of yet, Strictly fans were keen to express their excitement at the thought of the idea.
One said: “100% would love Claudia to do the show as a celeb!” A second said: “End of an era, Strictly won’t be the same without them. That would be amazing though, would love to see that!!”
A third said “You and Claudia as a partnership would be iconic!! this news has broken my heart on this Thursday morning. Grown up watching these two every Saturday night.”
A fourth said: “OMG, make that happen, please!” A fifth added: “OMG GET CLAUDIA AS A CONTESTANT IMMEDIATELY.”
Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, announced their decision to leave Strictly via a joint statement. The two said: “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. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day.
“We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’ but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza. Tess and Claud.”
The presenters were the first all-female partnership to host a primetime entertainment programme on British TV. In June 2025, Tess and Claudia were both made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for their services to broadcasting.