Talk of the town

TV favourite Claudia Winkleman reveals how she plans to help her guests relax on her new chat show

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With Tess Daly on Strictly

She's the queen of British TV but Claudia Winkleman fears her new chat show is doomed to fail after bosses scheduled it to start on the unluckiest of days. The Claudia Winkleman Show will make its debut on Friday 13th - and the Traitors star admits she's more than a little superstitious.

"All I can tell you is that if I see a single magpie, I salute them and ask them about their husband or wife," she says. "I then think the day's a write-off and try and get back into bed with my eyes closed. Starting on Friday 13th means it's going to have a freakishly short run."

Superstitions aside, bosses at the BBC have faith in Claudia, 54, who was praised for her hosting skills when she stood in for Graham Norton on his show last year, interviewing stars including Chris Pratt and Rob Beckett. But building on that success is giving her the heebie-jeebies.