Strictly

Holly Willoughby is poised for a dramatic return to our TV screens, following her departure from This Morning in October 2023, as she’s set to host Strictly Come Dancing

Holly Willoughby “will take over” as Strictly Come Dancing presenter, according to top media source.

The host is set for a dramatic return to our TV screens, more than two years after quitting This Morning on ITV when she became the victim of a murder plot. Gavin Plumb, the creep behind the conspiracy, was jailed for life in July and now it is thought Holly, 44, is ready to come back to broadcasting.

Peter Fincham, who was director of the BBC for two years until 2007, understands Holly will replace either Claudia Winkleman or Tess Daly, who are leaving Strictly after more than two decades associated with the programme.

Mr Fincham, who since managed ITV between 2008 and 2016, said: “My hairdresser also cuts the hair of a well-known channel controller. What’s said in Harry’s the hairdresser stays in Harry’s. But he says with great confidence that Holly Willoughby will take over.”

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The insider spoke to Richard Eden, a journalist with the Daily Mail, who wrote Holly is likely to present Strictly from the start of the next series in 2026. Tess and Claudia will depart at the end of the current series, from which actress and model Ellie Goldstein was eliminated on Saturday.

Holly was on This Morning for 14 years until her exit, which came after her long-time co-presenter Phillip Schofield resigned. Phillip, 63, had admitted that, before leaving his wife, he had carried on an extramarital affair with a young male co-worker and had lied about it to ITV’s management, his colleagues, lawyers, agents and friends and family.

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The experienced presenter was dropped by his talent agency YMU after the affair, which was not illegal, and he also stepped down from ITV completely – meaning he did not host the British Soap Awards in the following days.

Holly’s return, said to be backed with “great confidence” by the “well-known channel controller”, would come off the back of this scrutiny – albeit more than two years down the line. The bombshell claims come after sources linked comedian Alan Carr, 49, to one of the two vacant Strictly posts.

The presenter is currently impressing millions with his playful charisma on The Celebrity Traitors, on which he has reached the final five. A source had said: “He’s an old-fashioned showbiz pro who would be just perfect hosting Strictly. If he does manage to win Traitors it will be a sign to the BBC that he has the star quality to present its flagship show.”

Taylor Swift fans ‘screamed’ on Sunday evening’s results show after learning that Vicky Pattison will be dancing next week to the pop star’s latest single – The Fate of Ophelia

After finding out that she was safe from the dreaded dance off, reality star Vicky Pattison was told what her dance and song choice would be for next week. Taylor Swift fans couldn’t contain their excitement on Sunday evening’s Strictly Come Dancing results show after learning that Vicky, 37, will be dancing next week to Taylor Swift’s latest single – The Fate of Ophelia.

Professional partner Kai Widdrington started dancing as a small clip of the song played and sent Swifties into a frenzy online. One person took to X, formally known as Twitter, and wrote: “Arrgghhh not @VickyPattison dancing to The Fate of Ophelia, I screamed Strictly…doing Taylor Swift…and it’s a race weekend, I may just burst with excitement”.

Another fan penned: “Omg Vicky and Kai are dancing to Ophelia next week. My life for a month has been dominated by life and of a Showgirl”, while a third chimed in: “As a Swiftie. I’m Super excited to see that Vicky and Kai are dancing to The Fate of Ophelia next week!! Let’s see this be an iconic performance”.

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The track The Fate of Ophelia is the lead single off the album The Life Of A Showgirl which was released last month and features multiple references to her relationship with Travis Kelce.

She references a “megaphone”, a hint at the fact he reached out to her by screaming it out into the world on his podcast, rather than going through the usual ways.

Speaking about the new album, she said: “One thing about this album that I think is really exciting is that oftentimes when I make a record there’s like a lag time between when I made it and when it enters the world.

“Like for example, my last album, Tortured Post Department, by the time that album came out, I was in a completely different point in my life. With this one I would say that this album is a complete and total snapshot of what my life looks like right now.”

It comes after Vicky burst into tears on Saturday night’s Strictly after she performed the American Smooth with professional partner Kai. The dance, which was set to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, saw Vicky dressed as a white witch on theme for Halloween Week.

The dance went well and she received praise across the board from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas, eventually scoring 31 for her efforts and even a standing ovation.

Not only was Vicky pleased her hard work was paying off but she was left in utter shock when Motsi predicted that she will make the final.

Motsi said: “A few weeks ago, I couldn’t believe that you’d open our show. I loved the character play in the beginning, you did it so, so well. So for me, you are a contender for the final. Honestly. And I just want you to finish everything, make everything nice and clean.”

Motsi’s comment was met with cheers from the audience, and Vicky promptly broke down in tears of joy. Rushing over to be interviewed by Claudia Winkleman, her tears continued as she said: “I hated going first! Honestly, I loved this dance this week because for once I had a foundation to build on. I wasn’t just starting from scratch and feeling so inadequate. I was just desperate to prove that I have improved.”

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Strictly Come Dancing star Balvinder Sopal found herself in the dance-off with Ellie Goldstein

After a thrilling Strictly Come Dancing show on Saturday night, Balvinder Sopal found herself in the dance-off against Ellie Goldstein.

Balvinder and her professional partner Julian Caillon reprised their Rumba to Stay by Shakespears Sister, while Ellie and Vito Coppola performed their Tango to Abracadabra by Lady Gaga once more.

Following the second performances of both couples, the judges made their decision and chose to save Balvinder and Julian.

Post-dance-off, Balvinder posted a photo of herself and Julian performing on Instagram, captioning it: “I loved dancing the Rumba with @Julian_caillon. This was a gorgeous pay off to a very difficult week.”

This followed Julian’s post of photos from their performance, declaring it their “favourite dance yet”, reports Wales Online.

“Which I can’t believe we’re saying considering where we started with the Rumba,” he wrote.

“This week more than ever I saw @leesopal grow and improve as a dancer. From the technique to the performance there was absolutely nothing more she could’ve done, and I absolutely loved dancing this routine together.

“Make sure you’re tuning into the results show tonight to see if we “Stay” in the competition.”

Meanwhile, on the Strictly results show, Vito had some heartfelt words for Ellie after their elimination.

“Honestly, there are no words I can use to describe how proud I am of you and you did really change my life so much,” he said.

“You made me such a better person. At the beginning of this year, I said to myself please, please, please can you send me a beautiful angel into my life? And now you arrived.

“I’ve never had a little sister but I always wanted one. Now, I have you and you’re my little sister forever, and your big brother is always by your side.”

Nine couples remain in the competition and will perform next Saturday when the professional dancers will be accompanied by the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment in a special tribute to Remembrance Sunday.

Strictly Come Dancing fans have reacted to news of the latest elimination after a spoiler leaked online following an eventful Halloween Week on the BBC competition

Strictly Come Dancing fans have been left ‘heartbroken’ after a spoiler revealed who has been eliminated from the BBC dance competition. Fans will know that the results show traditionally airs on Sundays but is pre-recorded immediately after the live show on a Saturday evening, and news is often leaked online.

This time around, it was Halloween Week on Strictly, and it was eventful from start to finish. With judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all dressed up in spectacular spooky gear, and the contestants all embodying creepy and kooky personas for the evening, it was Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope who topped the leader board with a perfect score of 40, a first for this series.

Vicky Pattison burst into tears after Motsi predicted she would make it all the way to the final, and fans also started demanding that La Voix be made the new host after he momentarily stood in for Tess Daly.

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Just before the result was confirmed, rumours had already started to swirl and one fan wrote: “Genuinely worried this will come true again. Why are my faves always in danger?” Another said: “ffs I hope this is wrong,” and one fan admitted: “I ain’t sleeping until that spoiler drops, I’m on EDGE”

Another admitted: “got strictly spoiled for me last week bc someone updated the wikipedia page by like midnight based on the leaked spoiler while me and my sister were in depth examining the judges evil scoring HOWEVER this week im looking intentionally bc im getting nervous.”

A fourth fan said: “I wish there was a poll on X where we can see a live accurate version of what the votes look like cause waiting for the strictly spoiler poll is painful.”

At the end of Saturday’s show, it was revealed that Shirley would have the deciding vote when it came to deciding who would survive the dreaded dance off.

While the Mirror have decided not to leak the spoiler, fans have already been reacting online to the leaked elimination news. One simply wrote: “Noooooo,” and left a sad emoji and a broken heart with their tweet.

Another said: “the strictly spoiler. omg,” whilst a third admitted: “I had a feeling this was going to be the result. Devastated for the parson who left but it was the correct result sadly. Heartbroken for the other person too but I hope this means they’ll come back fighting next week.”

Last week, footballer Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley were sent home following a tense dance-off with musical theatre star Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.

Speaking after the elimination, Jimmy said he never expected to enjoy the show so much. “I can only say thank you very much for letting me have this experience and to my daughters for pushing me to come here and do this.

“I never expected that I would enjoy it this much. The people behind the scenes, from the wardrobe people to the hairdressers to the make-up people, are absolutely magnificent – thank you very much.

“This experience is going to live with me forever. Most importantly, [to Lauren] this girl, she is just absolutely incredible. She has been absolutely amazing with me. You are a diamond,” he told Lauren.

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