Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton du Beke has broken his silence in a video shared to Instagram on Thursday after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman revealed they’re quitting the show.
On Thursday morning it was revealed that Tess, 56, and Claudia, 54, have quit the popular BBC series after 11 years of presenting together.
And now the show’s former professional dancer, 59, has reacted to the ‘saddest news’ as he admitted he was going to ‘miss them terribly’.
In the clip, Anton said: ‘Where do I start? @tessdaly and @claudiawinkle, you two are extraordinary.
‘Tess I remember back in 2004 in a London hotel introducing this wonderful new show Strictly Come Dancing to the world.
‘You’ve been a torchbearer for our fabulous show from the beginning. But more importantly for those 20 years, you’ve been a wonderful friend and colleague. I’m going to miss you dearly on a Saturday night.
Strictly judge, Anton du Beke, 59, has broken his silence in a video shared to Instagram on Thursday after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman step down from their presenting roles
On Thursday morning it was revealed that Tess, 56, and Claudia, 54, have quit the popular BBC series after 11 years of presenting together
‘Hand in hand with the fabulous Claudia, taking over from my hero Brucie, together you have elevated the show to unprecedented levels as the most magnificent presenting duo!
‘I’m going to miss you both terribly, but whatever you choose to do in the future, I’m sure you’ll both be a huge success.
‘I love you both. I’ll see you Saturday night and look forward to the rest of the series together.’
Tess replied to the message, writing: ‘Love you so much, touched my heart xxx’, while Claudia replied with four love heart emojis.
Claudia, who also hosts BBC series The Traitors and spin-off Celebrity Traitors, and Tess, who first joined the series back in 2004, sat side by side in the clip that confirmed their departure.
Speaking to the camera, Claudia began: ‘There have been some rumblings and we want you to hear this from us.’
Tess chimed in: ‘We have news, after 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly, we have decided that the time is right to step aside and pass over the baton.’
‘The very sparkly baton!’ Claudia laughed, before turning to her co-star and pal to add: ‘You’ve been here since the beginning.’
Tess and Claudia sat side by side in the clip that confirmed their departure
And now the show’s former professional dancer has reacted to the ‘saddest news’ as he admitted he was going to ‘miss them terribly’
Tess replied, pointing to Claudia: ‘With Bruce, lovely Bruce [Forsyth], and that was over two decades ago but a lot of the time has been with you.
‘It’s been a huge part of our lives since our children were literally babes in arms, and now they’re adults, and I think genuinely we have cherished every second.’
Claudia continued: ‘We have, we’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and we just want to thank the Strictly team, because Strictly is the people who make it.’
The duo penned under the video: ‘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.’
