Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly to host their final live Strictly show

Strictly Come Dancing hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly will present their last ever live show on Saturday.

In October the presenters announced that they would be leaving the BBC dancing competition after more than a decade co-hosting the main show together.

Their last appearance as a presenting pair on Strictly will be in the pre-recorded festive special airing on Christmas day.

Ahead of this they will take to the ballroom at Elstree Studios for one final live show at the weekend, which will see the winner of this year’s series crowned.

The 2025 finalists are West End star Amber Davies, former Lioness Karen Carney and internet star George Clarke.

Daly, 56, presented the series alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth when it launched in 2004 while Winkleman, 53, fronted its weekday companion show, It Takes Two.

Winkleman eventually moved on to host the Sunday night results show alongside Daly and joined the main show every Saturday from 2014, after Sir Bruce stepped down.

Strictly’s sister show It Takes Two paid tribute to Daly and Winkleman earlier in the month with the pair admitting they might feel emotional after the finale on December 20.

Asked by host Fleur East if the reality of their imminent departure has sunk in, Daly replied: “The short answer is no.

“I genuinely haven’t had time to think about it, because we’ve been so into this series, so absorbed by it – it’s such a brilliant series that all of our focus is on that, really.

“So I think it’d be a bit of a shock on the 20th. I might get emotional.”

Announcing their departure in October, the pair said in a joint statement: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream.

“We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.

“We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.”

Following the announcement, the duo both shared separate posts on their Instagram pages with a string of photographs.

Winkleman said: “It’s very difficult to put into words exactly what Strictly has meant to me. It’s been the greatest relationship of my career.”

Daly added: “Thank you for the laughter, the friendship and the countless memories over all these years. You’ve filled my heart in ways I’ll never forget. I’ll miss you all so much.”

The pair picked up the entertainment programme gong at the Bafta TV Awards in 2024 and were made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours for their services to broadcasting.

Winkleman has presented shows including Channel 4’s The Piano and BBC programme The Great British Sewing Bee and is also host of the hugely successful competition show The Traitors, as well as its spin off The Celebrity Traitors.

Daly has presented a range of shows and awards including ITV’s makeover show Home On Their Own and the annual charity appeal show BBC Children In Need.

The Strictly Come Dancing final will air at BBC One on Saturday at 7pm.