IN a typically bubbly chat with Claudia Winkleman three years ago, I asked the doyenne of Strictly if she had any plans to leave the BBC dance show.
“Oh no,” she replied with characteristic exaggeration. “They’d have to prise my cold, dead hands off that shiny glitterball.”
Now, of course, no one took Claudia literally.
But the news that she’s leaving still came as a shock — even to those of us in TV circles who had already concluded her exit was “only a matter of when, not if”.
My interview with her took place just days before the start of a new show she was hosting. It was called The Traitors.
Like most viewers who’d been bombarded with all sorts of attempts at reality TV and game shows — all of them desperate to kick-start some sort of new TV genre — I was sceptical.
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I was also very wrong.
But whip-smart Claudia was savvy enough to spot a game-changing hit a mile off.
It was particularly interesting because she’d taken a chance on the format after turning 50.
In our chat she remarked: “I thought I’d start saying yes to things.
“I mean, I’m 50, and we’re only here for two minutes.”
The only trouble is that Tess has joined her in leaving Strictly — and it remains to be seen whether it can survive.
Big shows can wither on the vine when they lose their big stars.
Look at Big Brother without Davina McCall, or This Morning without Holly Willoughby.
But we can’t blame Claudia.
After all, she’s only taking the opportunities that came her way — many of which she’s helped create.
And remember she only joined Strictly 15 years ago.
She spent most of her 20s and 30s trying to get her big break in TV, while watching peers — such as Holly and Davina — bag theirs early on.
This kind of huge success has been a long time coming and she’s earned the right to let go of that glitterball.
