Emma Willis has said she “can’t find the words” to describe how she feels after it was announced she is among the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing.
The TV presenter was joined by her co-hosts, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, as the group discussed how “exciting” it is to be the faces of the hit BBC dancing competition.
The trio were seen asking each other how they feel about their roles in a series of behind-the-scenes posts shared to the show’s official Instagram page on Wednesday.
As the group were gathered in what appears to be a dressing room, Radebe asked Widdicombe how he was feeling, to which he responded: “It feels like… it doesn’t feel real, right?”
Radebe, who joined the show as a professional dancer in 2018, laughed and said: “You’re telling me.”
The comedian and The Last Leg star went on to ask Radebe how he feels about “not being part of that dancing team and having to interview them”.
He said: “Listen, I’m not hanging up my dancing shoes just yet. That I’m definitely not doing. I cannot… I mean, what is my life without a cha cha cha?”
In a second video, the three hosts were seen standing in a huddle and Widdicombe said: “Genuinely, this is the most exciting thing in my life that I’ve ever kept to myself.”
Willis, who was wearing rollers in her hair, a striped cardigan and jeans in the video, said: “I still can’t find words because my tummy is just flipping consistently.”
Mimicking the start of each episode, which sees the hosts walk down stairs to introduce the show, Willis continued: “I would imagine it’s how you feel when you know you have to walk down the stairs – ‘dancing the cha cha’ – and like everything goes to jelly.
“That’s how I feel thinking about what we’re about to do.”
Radebe added: “It’s petrifying, but I cannot tell you how exciting it is.”
The group were also seen laughing together and making jokes amongst themselves, and Willis said: “We’re just going to laugh a lot, aren’t we? Just lots of laughing.”
In a third clip, Widdicombe joked that the upcoming series will be an “absolute disaster” as he is set to host alongside “two of the most striking looking people on television”.
He added: “Emma is like one of the great TV hosts of our generation, and Johannes is one of the great dancers of our generation. And I’m here as well.
“I’m looking forward to the first episode, because I think it’ll be the only episode in the history of Strictly where the presenters are more nervous than the dancers. It’s gonna be great.”
Willis, Widdicombe and Radebe were revealed to be the hosts of the flagship entertainment programme by the BBC on Tuesday.
The long-awaited line-up will take over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who announced their departure from the programme in October 2025.
