In the months that followed, a who’s who of broadcasters lined up to audition for the job, before the BBC landed on Big Brother host Emma Willis, The Last Leg comedian Josh Widdicombe and former Strictly pro Johannes Radebe.
But what about the people who came close to landing the job, but didn’t quite make it?
Here are just a handful of the stars who tried out for TV’s most coveted presenting job...
Zoe Ball
Former Strictly contestant and It Takes Two host Zoe Ball admitted she went through “the seven stages of grief and rejection” after losing out on the job of presenting Strictly Come Dancing.
“I didn’t get it, but I tell you what, if who I think has got it, we’re in safe hands and our new hosts are going to be fabulous,” the former Radio 2 host said on her podcast Dig It in May.
Discussing her audition for the role, she told Dig It co-host Jo Whiley: “I don’t want to be the one to say the wrong thing, but I was so chuffed to even be in the mix. There were some pretty amazing people who didn’t even make it into the mix.
“So I made it in the mix, and I had a really fun time having one last little play at a show that I love and adore. And I’m so thrilled for the gang that has got it.”
Rylan Clark
Another ex-It Takes Two host who lost out on presenting the main show is Rylan Clark.
The former Big Brother presenter was hotly tipped to land the job after Tess and Claudia’s departure in 2025, and when the Strictly hosts were officially announced in May, Rylan took to Instagram to reveal he had been in “the race” for the job.
“This wasn’t my time sadly but am extremely grateful to even have been considered,” he wrote.
“Genuinely looking forward to the new series with you three,” he added, offering his congratulations to Strictly’s new presenting team.
Clara Amfo
In September, Radio 1 DJ and former Strictly contestant Clara Anfo revealed she was also among the stars to have auditioned to host the long-running dance show.
Speaking on her podcast Into It, Clara explained that she had, indeed, been “in the mix” during the casting process.
“I can say it publicly now,” she told co-host Munroe Bergdorf. “I tried out for the main job of Strictly Come Dancing.
“Didn’t get it. [I was a] bit gutted at the time, but quickly got over it.”
The radio host revealed she “tried out” with “another presenter”, recalling: “It was intense, man.”
Praising Strictly’s new hosts, Clara then insisted: “I’m never mad at losing out on work to people I respect and who I think are really, really good at their jobs.”
Sara Cox
Sara Cox revealed in May that she had participated in a secret, highly covert two-day audition to host Strictly, just days after landing the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show role.
“I tried out for Strictly. And I will say I tried out for it two days after I got offered my number one, all-time, dream job of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show,” she told Women & Home.
“So, I went along, and it was the most gorgeous experience. I got into a car that was taking me to a secret destination,” she revealed about the dramatic audition experience. “It was all hush-hush, and it was basically a bit like, you know, when you can go and play the Crystal Maze interactive game? It was like that.”
In August, she then expanded on this process on her breakfast show, chatting to the newly appointed host Emma Willis.
“The car turning up to pick you up and not saying where it’s taking you, [was] weird as a control freak,” Sara admitted, as Emma confirmed: “It was the most cloak-and-dagger thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
Emma and Sara added that the BBC had invented a fake show title, so the taxi drivers didn’t know they were auditioning for Strictly.
Siân Welby
The audition process was so tough for This Morning presenter Siân Welby, she “burst out crying” when it was all done.
Opening up about her unsuccessful – and traumatic – try-out, Siân called the two-and-a-half-hour audition “mad”.
“It was an absolute honour to be in the mix, but it was a gruelling process with no messing about,” she recently told OK!.
Siân recalled: “I left the audition, got in the car and burst out crying. It was the adrenaline. I’d never concentrated so hard or wanted to impress so much. But it wasn’t my time.”
“I really did want to show them I could do the job,” the TV personality added, admitting the whole process was a “tough” one.
She added: “Afterwards, I almost had no memory of it. It was like being in shock.”
Janette Manrara
Former pro and It Takes Two Host Janette Manrara called losing out on hosting the Saturday night show “devastating”.
Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Good Company podcast, Janette confirmed she got “chemistry tested” and felt like she “was a front runner” for the job.
However, she said that producers “just decided to go elsewhere”, a decision she admitted “hit hard”.
“Of course, I was devastated,” she shared. “The only thing I will say that gave me power was that, in seven years, I have gone from being a dancer on the show to hosting Morning Live, hosting It Takes Two, hosting the Strictly live tour…”
Ultimately, Janette felt a sense of pride that she was even considered for the role alongside broadcasters with more experience.
“Putting myself in a room against names like Emma Willis, Rylan Clark, Zoe Ball, all of them that you’ve seen that have spoken out about being in the chemistry test. I was one of them,” she said.
“So if I can take anything away from it, it’s not that I didn’t get the job. What I’m taking away from it is that actually I’ve done a bloody good job in the last seven years with honing my craft in presenting.”
Janette thanked the producers for handling the rejection “professionally” and letting their agents know the same day that her audition hadn’t been successful.
“And I have to say, immediately, Monday morning, I had the weekend to sob and cry – and I sobbed for weeks, I’m not gonna even begin to lie, I was devastated – I called them the next day, the Monday. They were just there for me,” Janette concluded.
