A Strictly chat with Tess Daly

A Strictly chat with Tess Daly
A Strictly chat with Tess Daly (Image credit: BBC)

We talk to the first lady of Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1 Saturdays/Sundays) about working with Claudia, dressing up with her daughters and her ambition to get back on the dancefloor... How are you enjoying the show this year? “I get so excited – I live and breathe Strictly. It’s a genius line-up this year, which makes it unmissable television and I absolutely love the new set – especially my disco tower!” Who has been catching your eye? “Like the rest of the nation I wait with baited breath to see Ann Widdecombe dance every week! Gavin and Katya look like a great couple. He’s got bigger guns than Austin Healey, that’s official. I’ve been there with my tape measure!” What is the worst part of the job? “Reading out the results is tough because you do grow close to these people – you spend a lot of time holding their hands backstage and you see how much it means to them.” What’s the best part of the job? “Choosing the dresses to wear. It’s every girl’s dream to dress up in a fabulous frock and feel glamorous on a Saturday night. I have a lot of input – we’re going for grown'up glamour, but it’s got to be fun and not too restrictive. I’d love to have a rummage in the dancers’ wardrobes and try some of their dresses on – not necessarily in public, though!” What about having Claudia Winkleman co-hosting the results show? “Claudia is so funny – she just makes me die laughing. We have a blast together, running around like two kids playing in a classroom!” Would you take to the floor again? “I loved it before, but at the time I was pregnant so I felt really nauseous whenever Anton would spin me around – I was just trying not to throw up! So now I’m looking for a partner. Anyone?” Do your daughters Phoebe and Amber enjoy watching? “Amber's only one, but Phoebe, who's six, loves the show - she gets dressed up to watch it and talks about it with her friends at school. This year, she’s even begging me to buy her the Strictly game for her birthday so she can play at home. That’s all she wants – the Strictly game and a puppy!”

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.