Strictly Come Dancing is reportedly gearing up to bring back a male co-host to follow in the late Sir Bruce Forsyth’s footsteps.
The flagship BBC celebrity dance competition series marked the end of an era last year as longtime co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced they were exiting the dance floor.
Since then, the hunt has been on for who could replace the dynamic Strictly duo, with media personalities such as Alan Carr, Zoe Ball, Alison Hammond and Fleur East all frontrunners at one point or another.
Now, insiders have claimed that Strictly bosses are keen to bring on board a male co-presenter and have already narrowed it down to the final three.
But after Forsyth coined the popular phrase ‘Nice to see you, to see you nice’ on the show, stepping into his shoes will be no mean feat.
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According to The Sun on Sunday, the BBC plans to screentest potential pairings in the coming weeks.
The final three men in the running for the coveted gig are: The Chase legend Bradley Walsh, Big Brother’s Rylan Clark and current fan-favourite Strictly pro, Johannes Radebe, who is a ‘new contender’.
According to a source, all three are ‘keen to land the role and offer a different perspective’.
‘They continued: ‘The intention would be to team the chosen man up with a female. It will be a return to the years when Tess co-hosted with Bruce, which was a very popular format.
‘The show’s executive producers feel Bradley has a similar style to Bruce – he can tell jokes, sing and has lots of charisma.
‘Rylan has a massive fanbase and used to host Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, while Johannes offers expertise.’
This latest development comes after reports that the execs are contemplating a trio of presenters to switch things up, with comedian Mel Giedroych’s name also being thrown in the mix to interview celebs upstairs.
A source said: ‘Nothing is off the table when it comes to sprinkling new magic over Strictly.’
Whoever is chosen to usher in a new era of Strictly will be doing so with a very different show from what we’ve been used to.
According to reports, the Strictly pro-dancers have undergone a mass cull, resulting in five professionals getting axed.
Come September, it has been reported that the longest serving pro, Karen Hauer, as well as Nadiya Bychkova, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas (who has also dropped out of the 2026 Professional Tour) will not be returning.
Meanwhile, pros Neil Jones and Nancy Xu have been benched and won’t be paired with celebrity partners going forward.
Metro understands the BBC will confirm plans for Strictly 2026 in due course.
According to insiders, the axed pros reportedly learned their fate in ‘brutal 15-minute phone calls’, although The Sun has shared that the BBC has offered welfare packages to those who have been moved on.
Russian-British star Luba has reportedly ‘gone into hiding’ to process the news.
‘Producers refresh the cast, and sometimes people who’ve done nothing wrong get cut,’ the insider added.
In reaction to the ongoing rumour mill, former pro Kristina Rihanoff told The Independent: ‘If I were a producer, I would give it a rest for a year, regroup and think about what we can do differently.
‘There’s something to say about going back to basics and back to its roots – the roots of the show were pure ballroom and Latin dancing without the razzmatazz of 101 props and 3D projections
Metro has reached out to BBC for comment.
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