Overview
- Producers replaced long-serving hosts with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe after a secret audition process and opened the year with a pre-recorded launch filmed at Elstree Studios.
- The first live show drew a weaker audience than last year, averaging about 4.8 million viewers with a peak near 5 million, adding pressure on BBC Studios to justify the new presenting plan.
- After the second live show the three-person lineup remained unchanged, but public complaints concentrated on Widdicombe being a 'spare part' and urged producers to move him to the upstairs interview role with Radebe.
- Johannes Radebe drew praise for a calmer, improved performance in week two while judges and insiders publicly defended the hosts and warned against sustained online abuse that is affecting the presenters’ wellbeing.
- The change follows two decades of continuity with Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, and critics say the problem is the trio’s role assignment rather than individual talent, meaning producers may need to reassign duties if ratings do not recover.