Strictly 2025 : Week Five. Can anything be as Iconic as the Tess/Claude duo? NO SPOILERS. 18.25PM

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Getting it ready early as I am out this afternoon.

KEEP DANCING

Me too! Loved the swagger

I also liked Alex saying she watched Katya's performance to be more like Katya. I love seeing Katya's choreography when she has a decent dancer. It's off the scale. Sadly she has had some real duffers in the past.

We were out last night so just caught up. I liked Lewis and Ellie - she’s not the best dancer but it was fun and she always looks like she’s enjoying herself. Everyone else I found rather dull or forgettable. I feel sorry for George as he was stitched up with that music - far too slow for a jive.

Balvinder is not the weakest dancer there, but I do find her forgettable. I didn’t know her before Strictly (don’t watch Eastenders) and she seems very nice but that’s about it. Her dances have been fine but not memorable. And she is suffering from having a brand new and forgettable pro with no fan base. I think she would be doing much better if paired with Kai, Vito or Aljaž.

In all her time on Strictly I can't think of anything Tess has done for the remainder of the year. She's not even popped up on anything like Would I Lie to You etc, that i can think of, whereas Claudia's stayed busy doing lots of those sort of panel shows as well as Traitors, The Piano, Sewing Bee.

When you lay it out like that it’s pretty clear Claudia tends towards being a workaholic - she popped up on a National Lottery ad at the cinema yesterday! She’s also exceptionally good at what she does, so all power to her.

I’d say Tess not appearing elsewhere is almost certainly by choice. There will be work out there for her in the future if she wants it.

Yes it’s like they think the audience is so stupid we will get bored if we don’t have a hook to reel us in. Just give us some great dancing please!

I really like her & if I had the money, I’d absolutely retire too, especially now that Vernon seems to be working / earning again!

They are both very well paid. Have a look at CW's earnings from the BBC.
I actually think Tess does well though, it's often a 2.5 hour live programme, lots can go wrong. She's keeping it going. Claudia just talks before the marking.

If Tess is not doing other things by choice then that does imply that she will just disappear into early retirement. It’s a hard industry to be in as a 50 something woman unless you have something unique to offer and a lot of drive. Claudia is more unique and seems to have more drive - her mum worked as a journalist till she was in her 60s? 70s? - and seems to be a late bloomer career wise .

Compare Tess to Amanda Holden who I would say is very driven and loves the attention fame brings. Post her Cowell judging shows she does some radio but on tv she has, as far as I remember only managed a niche renovation show with Alan Carr which had two series and is now relegated to a relatively low budget teatime quiz show. If that’s all she can get with her ambition and drive I don’t hold out much hope for Tess. The industry is tough and doesn’t like ageing women who have traded on their looks for most of their career.

Tv wise Tess has done little other than Strictly and Children in Need. But according to Wikipedia “In 2011, Daly's first novel, The Camera Never Lies, a tale of love behind the scenes, was published by Coronet, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. It's Up to You New York, Daly's second book, was published in 2013.[20]
In 2013, she became the new face of L'Oréal.[21] In December 2017, Daly became the new face of Vitabiotics' Wellwoman supplement brand.[22] She is the co-founder, with former swimwear model Gayle Lawton, of the swimwear brand Naia Beach.[23]”

no idea if the swimwear brand is still on sale but perhaps she will try to follow in Liz Harley’s footsteps.

how many copies did those books actually sell? I don’t remember seeing them,

I remember back when Claudia used to present ITT and at some point every year she'd interview Bruce and Tess individually. Bruce was always in his element but Tess used to look incredibly uncomfortable and come across as very quiet. It was a totally different persona to the fake laughing shiny Saturday night version.

So it doesn't really suprise me that she's never done panel shows and stuff because she just doesn't look comfortable being herself on screen (which does beg the question of why she chose that certain profession).

I saw one of her books in the library once and picked it up and had a scan through because I wondered if it was the same Tess Daly as on Strictly. It was around the time when people like Denise Van Often and Martine McCutcheon were "writing" books, Tess's was in a similar vein and needless to say terrible!

Only caught up, that was dull! I think Bal and La Voix for the DO, judges will save LV

I think Balvinder will get a lot of sympathy votes though.
Plus LaVoix is popular.

I didn’t watch last night so am catching up now.

I really really enjoyed Karen and Harry’s Usher AT. The lifts were amazing! I think the judges were harsh especially considering the contestants and pros have these conceits forced upon them.

Poor George in that outfit.

Im developing a crush on the tall Aussie.

Emma Bunton cannot look that good naturally SURELY.

I remember when CW presented the spin off programme to the singing competition on the bbc!

Oh yes Fame Academy, Claudia has been everywhere 😀

I wonder if Tess has been happy to restrict herself to Saturday work while raising her children so she could be completely available as 'Mum' in the week but now the kids are Uni age it suits are more to not work weekends and keep those as 'family time' while being happy to work regularly during the week?

That is a possibility she wanted to be there during the week for her Dc, makes sense.

Interestingly Tess and Claudia were both appointed MBEs this summer in the King’s Birthday Honours list. Two women presenting a prime time show without a male presenter was groundbreaking when they started doing it 10+ years ago. But the timing of the awards this summer makes me think the BBC knew a long time ago it was their last series together and so nominated them for MBEs while they were still presenting together.

Claudia also left her radio show in Spring 2024. She had taken that over from Graham Norton and now she is going to be doing a chat show which airs when The Graham Norton Show is not on air. It seems like she is being prepped by the Beeb as his successor. I think this exit could have been 12 months plus in the making.

Claudia replaced Graham Norton 1 week he might have been doing Eurovision or something, she was ok, i find her shtick a bit irritating at times tbh but she is personable and we don't have any women prime time chat shows so it would be a change.

I think it’s been long planned but there was a leak so they were forced to announce. Claud has lots of other projects she’ll be wanting to focus on and I do think they made a pac to both quit at same time. I’d imagine Tess has just had enough of it as well. It’s a high pressured job (relatively to other presenting roles) and she has been doing a very long time. It’s a huge commitment every weekend. I think she’s a great presenter for what the role needs (keeping them to
time, managing any unexpected issues, etc). She comes across as very professional and a a genuinely nice person.

I’m sure she’d get plenty of jobs if she wanted them but perhaps she just isn’t that fussed. Not everyone is career driven or fame driven. She seems to have been content with her strictly job and raising her family all these years. I don’t really like all the “she won’t get any work” “she’ll struggle” “claud is getting good jobs tess is too rubbish” (not on here but elsewhere social media) - she’s maybe genuinely quite happy with her lot and how her career has went and what the future holds.

Oh blimey that was badddddd. But I still used to watch it 🤦.

It was truly awful, was it on the same time as pop idol i can't remember,

This was the Popbitch take on Tess and Claud this week:

Bad news for gossip-mongerers: The intel we’re getting from Strictly is that Tess and Claudia leaving is nothing to do with fights or bad blood, just an awareness that the show has been hit by so many scandals in the last few years (and they’re also privy to the close calls the production managed to swerve) that they’re keen not to still be aboard when the show starts taking on proper water. (Which is probably wise)

Part of me thinks it should take a year off and come back refreshed in 2027 with the new line up. Or put it to bed altogether.