Strictly Come Dancing 2026 hosts replacing Tess and Claudia tipped to be Big Brother and BBC icons

Emma Willis and Zoe Ball are reportedly set to be unveiled as the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing, with the announcement expected to come soon.

Since last October, the news cycle has been filled with speculation as to who could replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as hosts, and it seems the BBC has found their replacements.

A source told The Sun: "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."

A BBC spokesperson told Radio Times: "Plans for Strictly Come Dancing 2026 will be confirmed in due course."

Willis remained rather coy when asked if she was in talks for the Strictly presenting gig earlier this year. During a segment on This Morning, she and Rylan Clark were asked if the rumours were true to which Willis replied: "Ahh... no!"

According to the publication, former It Takes Two host Ball is expected to join Willis as host, forming a new presenting duo.

Willis is reportedly expected to take on Daly's role on the dancefloor talking to the judges, with Ball in Winkleman's position upstairs with the celebs and pros.

Ball has also remained coy when asked about the potential of her returning to Strictly Come Dancing, but did admit to The Sunday Times: "Obviously, there's a part of me that would love to do it."

And during a segment on Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball, Ball teased she had something major coming up but couldn't "say anything about it". Whiley noted at the time that Ball had dyed her hair, to which Ball said she had something she needed "to be glamorous for"...

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News for the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing has been coming through bit by bit, with the BBC recently confirming which professionals would be officially returning to the show later this year.

For the upcoming run, Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden, Katya Jones, Neil Jones and Nikita Kuzmin have all been confirmed to return to the dance floor.

Also returning alongside them are Aljaž Škorjanec, Jowita Przystał, Johannes Radebe, Nancy Xu and Kai Widdrington.

They will be joined by Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Vito Coppola, Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon – the latter two of whom joined the professionals line-up in 2025.

Strictly Come Dancing 2026 begins on BBC One and iPlayer later this year.

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