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Hosting Come Dancing is widely thought to be one of the best jobs in television.
Watched by millions and loved for its glitz and glamour, bosses hoped they would have the pick of the UK’s most-loved presenters as they look to replace and .
But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that, in fact, it is proving a ‘struggle’ to find new hosts, despite a number of high-profile names being touted.
Sources say that Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, ‘has her heart set’ on Alex Jones stepping into Ms Daly or Ms Winkleman’s shoes – but The One Show anchor is said to have ‘not exactly jumped at the chance’.
Several big names are said to be disinterested in the £400,000 roles because of the long and unsociable hours on Fridays and Saturdays.
Meanwhile, others are aware of what a high-profile job it is, and would prefer to stay under the radar.
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A source close to the show said: ‘Strictly is the biggest show on television, it is a national treasure but it isn’t as easy as you’d think to get people to do it.
‘With Tess and Claudia it happened organically. Now the roles are hugely inflated.
Sources say that Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, ‘has her heart set’ on Alex Jones (pictured ahead of the 2011 Strictly Come Dancing series) stepping into Tess Daly or Claudia Winkleman’s shoes
Strictly hosts Claudia Winkleman (L) and Tess Daly (R) announced they were quitting the hit dancing series in October
Kate Phillips is really, really keen for Alex Jones to do it but she lives a quiet life, as do many of the others being mooted.
‘Then there is the matter of stars being able to earn money far more easily. Take Bradley Walsh – he would be brilliant, but he earns fortunes pre-recording episodes of The Chase.
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‘Strictly is all consuming for four months of the year. It takes over everything. Even Tess and Claudia found that – it was really hard.
'They’d be there at the crack of dawn until late at night on Fridays and Saturdays doing run-throughs and dress rehearsals.’
There have been several names in the frame, including Walsh, Alan Carr, Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond.
Bosses are keen for the new stars to have some kind of connection to Strictly, but that may not be possible.
Should former BBC controller Ms Phillips persuade Ms Jones, 48 – who reached the semi-final as a contestant in 2011 – to take the Strictly role, there would be a vacancy on The One Show.
This, according to sources, could be filled by Ms Daly, 56, as she and her husband Vernon Kay are increasingly being regarded as the next Richard and Judy.
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Ms Jones pictured dancing the Paso while a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2011
They hosted the early evening magazine show together on Wednesday and are said to have very much impressed the Corporation’s upper echelons.
Ms Daly and Ms Winkleman stepped down from hosting Strictly after 14 years last October, saying they had been discussing it for a year and wanted to leave together.
The search has been on for new presenters ever since, who are likely to be announced in early summer.
While Ms Daly is yet to reveal her next move, Ms Winkleman, 53, will host her own chat show, The Claudia Winkleman Show, on BBC One from March 13.
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