Vernon Kay has hit out at persistent rumours surrounding who might succeed his wife Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing next year. The presenting pair revealed last month they would be passing on the “sparkly baton” to new faces following their 12-year partnership.
Their announcement sparked a wave of speculation about potential replacements, with this year’s competitor La Voix among the names being touted. It emerged last week that she was forced to withdraw from the competition after suffering an injury during practice sessions with Aljaz Skorjanec.
Her unexpected exit meant there was no elimination, with marks from the previous week being carried over, reports the Mirror.
The results programme, which didn’t include a dance-off, instead provided an emotional send-off for La Voix alongside a stunning routine from four former participants.During Monday’s chat with Vernon on his BBC Radio 2 show, Scott Mills remarked about La Voix’s departure: “Terrible news about the ankle, but who gets a send off like that on Strictly?”.
“Normally you have to dance awkwardly with your partner, and it’s not rehearsed,” the former competitor noted. “And the band sings ‘I’ve had the time of my life’ and that’s the end of that.”
Whilst discussing the matter, Vernon seized the opportunity to express his frustration about continuing speculation regarding potential successors to his wife and co-presenter Claudia. He said: “It’s hilarious really, since Tess and Claud announced that they will be leaving all the dentist, doctors and reception magazines are all saying, ‘It’s going to be this person, it’s going to be that person’. Let me just say this for the record, and I know a lot of people listen to his because we get quoted a lot of times.
“Do you honestly think that the people at Strictly Come Dancing mid-series are going to have a roundtable about who is going to host it next year?”, to which Scott responded: “No, I don’t think that.”
Continuing his tirade, Vernon added: “Sometimes common sense when you put your fingers to the keyboard makes a big difference.”
When Scott asked if he could be the one to replace his wife, he joked: “I tell you who it is, it’s me and Rylan [Clark]. There you go, done, simple.”
After Scott’s observation that producers are currently focused on the present series, Vernon agreed, stating: “It’s not even finished, as if they’ve got time! They’ve got a Christmas special to organise, just behave yourselves! Wind your necks in, it does my head in.”
Having been wed to Strictly’s main presenter for over two decades, Vernon said he’s constantly questioned about the programme, despite lacking insider knowledge.
Making his point clear, Scott said: “What Vernon is saying is stop speculating about who the new hosts will be, because the other ones haven’t finished yet,” to which his colleague replied: “Exactly.”
Alongside La Voix, numerous other prominent figures have been floated as possible replacements, including Holly Willoughby, Paddy McGuinness, Zoe Ball and Alex Jones.
Nevertheless, amid the conjecture, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s Chief Content Officer, recently confirmed that no verdict will be reached until next year.
Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, she explained: “In terms of the process, the production team, BBC Studios and Sarah James [Executive Producer], her team and all these great people who make it, they are now 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. 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.”