Josh Widdicombes Journey to Strictly Success

Hosting Come Dancing is widely considered one of the most coveted, high-profile jobs in British television.

So when and decided to call it a day, it meant the  had very big shoes to fill.

For months, bosses have been scurrying to try and find a replacement good enough, with a host of famous faces in the mix. 

Yet it was Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and who impressed bosses the most.

No strangers to TV,

Josh appeared on the 2024 Special dressed as a penguin, where he danced alongside professional , who won't be returning for the upcoming series.

He marks the first male to front the programme since Bruce Forsyth, who died in 2017.

Sir Bruce starred alongside Tess Daly until his retirement in 2013, when Claudia took over.

Born in Hammersmith in 1983, Josh completed a Master's degree in magazine journalism at City, University of London.  

He became a regular on Stand Up for the Weak before going on to make his debut appearance on Mock the Week in 2012. 

That year, he also appeared as a co-host on The Last Leg alongside Alex Brooker and Adam Hills.

He and Alex appeared on The Million Pound Drop, where they won £100k for their selected charities. 

The following year, he was a regular on The Last Leg after Channel 4 renewed the show.

Josh featured as a comedian on The Apprentice spin-off show and became a regular panellist on Mock the Week. 

In 2014, he made his debut on Have I Got News for You and won Celebrity Mastermind with a score of 24. 

 He was also announced to be joining the Radio 5 Live team as the new host of Fighting Talk alongside George Thompson.

Josh also starred in the BBC Three Comedy Feeds pilot Josh, which he co-wrote with Tom Craine.

BBC Three ordered a second full series of Josh, and a third and final series followed in 2017.

In 2015, he was the first-ever contestant on the Dave game show, where he won the series.  

That year, he also performed on the radio on BBC Radio 4's Arthur Smith's Balham Bash and Absolute Radio's The Franke Skinner Show.

The star also supported stand-up comedians Russel Howard, Michael Mclntyre, Alan Carr, Stephen Merchant and Shappi Khorsandi on their tours. 

He then hosted a weekly radio show on XFM, which was broadcast initially on Saturdays but moved to Sundays to coincide with his role as Fighting Talk presenter. 

Josh made four appearances on Live at the Apollo and announced he was a team captain of the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here. 

The show aired in January 2016 and returned for two more series the follow years.

He hosted a 1990s football nostalgia podcast and live shows called Quickly Kevin, Will He Score?

His guests included footballers such as Iain Dowie, Darren Huckerby, Pat Nevin and Matthew Le Tisser.

In 2019, Josh began hosting the panel show Hypothetical with James Acaster for Dave. 

The following year h started a parenting podcast with comedian Rob Beckett, titled Lockdown Parenting Hell.

It was renamed Parenting Hell following the third national lockdown.

He came out with his first book, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... How '90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life, two years later, and it made The Sunday Times bestsellers list.

In 2023, he was announced as a voice actor in the preschool animated series Big Lizard before going on to voice Barnsley in the Bluey episode Butlers.

He then made his Strictly debut two years ago for the Christmas Special, in which he described it as the 'worst day' of his career.

He told The Sun: 'I had the worst day of my career.

'We all had to get up and do a group dance. All the big celebs were there – me, Nitro from Gladiators.

'All the biggies. We all started dancing and I realised I was the worst dancer. This wasn't meant to happen.'

Last year, he made his debut on BBC Radio 2, sitting in for Romesh Ranganathan on his Saturday Show alongside actor and presenter Siobhan McSweeney. 

As for his personal life, Josh married Rose Hanson, a TV producer, in 2019. 

Rose has worked on several successful TV programmes, including 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Live at the Apollo, Would I Lie To you? and Alan Carr: Chatty Man.

The happy couple welcomed a daughter named Pearl in 2017 and a son named Cassius in 2021.

Tess and Claudia announced in October that they would be leaving Strictly at the end of its 23rd series, which concluded in December.

BBC Bosses will be hoping Josh will serve as a replacement for Claudia's comedic energy and help put contestants at ease, while Emma will steer the show.

The BBC told the Daily Mail: 'Plans for Strictly Come Dancing 2026 will be confirmed in due course.'

A source said last week: 'Josh blew the producers away with his dead-pan, witty banter. He is family friendly, having helmed several shows now, and loves Strictly.'

They added to The Sun: 'The bosses believe he will be ideal to take the show into a new era. After years as a stand-up, he can handle a live audience and is razor-sharp.

'He's not a household name, yet, and so to step into Brucie's shoes would be a stellar move for his career.'

Josh will be joining Emma Willis who was 'revealed' as the new host after emerging as the frontrunner during a cutthroat audition process.

The popular presenter is thought to have impressed during the Strictly chemistry tests, with the BBC seeing her as a 'safe pair of hands'.

A source said: 'Emma has been offered the Strictly job and is going to accept. She absolutely nailed the chemistry tests and the BBC adore her.

'Emma is a household name and a safe pair of hands so the BBC know she will do the job justice.

'She's incredibly popular with the public too and will suit the role down to a tee. She was absolutely thrilled to have been offered the job.'

Meanwhile, Johannes is reportedly set to join Emma and Josh as part of the hosting line up for the new series.

The South African-born dancer and choreographer, 39, has been a professional on the show since 2018 but a new report now claims he could be presenting this year.

A source said: 'Everyone involved in the auditions – including the celebs – are saying the job is going to JoJo.

'During the chemistry tests he was paired up with every other celeb and did incredibly well.'

The insider added to The Sun: 'They all think he would be the perfect partner for Emma. He has been announced as one of the returning professional dancers but that doesn't mean bosses aren't going to promote him.'