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As the dancing queens take their last tango, has Strictly lost its sparkle?

October 26, 2025

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The Observer

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly's announcement that they are to leave Strictly Come Dancing - handing over the "sparkly baton" at the end of the current 23rd run - was a light entertainment atom bomb.

- Barbara Ellen

The pair, both reputed to be paid £150,000 for a season, present the BBC1 primetime show now slipping in ratings, down from an average of nearly 8.6 million viewers for the opening episode five years ago to just over 5 million this year.

Still, they remain the reigning queens of Saturday night TV. Which makes this not so much a departure as a showbiz abdication.

Now questions rain down like the tinsel of a Strictly final. Who will take over? Zoe Ball? Bill Bailey? Rylan Clark? And what does it mean? Not just for these presenters, but for presenting duos per se, and the crumbling concept of "Saturday night TV".

المزيد من القصص من The Observer

The Observer

Can a biopic of the Boss be anything other than blinded by his light?

Heavens above, not another biopic. I'm still in recovery from A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s attempted unveiling of The Mysterious Soul of Bob Dylan starring Timothy Someone-or-other.

time to read

2 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

Reeves is still only getting part of the Brexit message

The financial markets, and much of the media, seem obsessed by the level of public sector debt and borrowing.

time to read

3 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

The anonymous Twitter troll account set up to discredit Virginia Giuffre

The online attacks came thick and fast, all 479 of them designed to discredit the accuser of Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew.

time to read

5 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

Badenoch and Farage should stop playground politics of making rules they can't keep

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's the golden rule I remember being taught as a child in primary school. Not a bad guiding principle.

time to read

3 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

Museums are in the pink while corporate sponsors remain shy

By embracing private philanthropy, the sector has received record sums, however businesses are feeling burnt by protests, write Nicole Fan and Stephen Armstrong

time to read

3 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

'Democrat saviour' or 'commie bastard': Mamdani, would-be king of New York

The 34-year-old socialist set to become the Big Apple's first Muslim mayor may be the left's greatest hope - and biggest threat. Hugh Tomlinson joins the new star of US politics on the campaign trail

time to read

8 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

Use Russia's money

Europe has missed its chance to hit Putin's finances

time to read

2 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

Struggling 'clean food' brands dig in for long haul

Autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, wrote Keats. Not if you're in the plant-based food industry. Sales at major brands, including Oatly and Beyond Meat, are stalling.

time to read

2 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

Reeves mission: to build a European Silicon Valley centred on 'golden triangle'

Brexit is costing the UK 80bn a year in lost taxes, hitting output by up to 8% and investment by more than twice as much. The chancellor has her work cut out

time to read

5 mins

October 26, 2025

The Observer

The Observer

Academics sign letter of support after ‘vile’ abuse of Israeli professor

Tom Watson, Margaret Hodge, Michael Grade, Prof Andrew Roberts and hundreds of academics are among more than 1,600 signatories of an open letter condemning a “targeted harassment campaign” against an Israeli professor at a London university.

time to read

1 mins

October 26, 2025

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