Overview
- Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe took over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman and made their first live‑show appearance on Saturday 26 September, with Willis and Widdicombe by the judges and Radebe handling post‑performance interviews.
- Viewers and critics pointed to visible handover errors, including Widdicombe missing cues more than once, while reviews praised Willis and described Widdicombe and Radebe’s on‑air chemistry as uneven.
- Overnight figures for the first live show averaged 4.8 million viewers, down from 6.2 million for the pre‑recorded launch, with the BBC stressing peak and iPlayer viewing when responding to the drop.
- Judges and colleagues publicly defended the presenters, Motsi Mabuse urged compassion and warned about losing 'imperfectly human' hosts to technology, and commentator Richard Osman proposed swapping Widdicombe into interviews and moving Radebe to a roving backstage role.
- Producers say they are still testing the three‑person format, monitoring audience metrics and adjusting roles as the series continues, and Emma Willis posted behind‑the‑scenes images including a quote that appeared to answer critics.