WE ARE STRICTLY DONE DANCING

...and the drama continues on Celebrity Traitors with three more Faithfuls leaving

- By Fran Winston

STRICTLY Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are quitting the BBC show in a shock exit that has left fans reeling.

The duo said in a joint Instagram post, left, that “now feels like the right time” to waltz off. And capping a day of drama for Claudia, her other TV hit The Celebrity Traitors saw three more Faithfuls sent packing from the starstudded castle.

The co-presenters, who have fronted Strictly together since 2014, will take their final bow in the Saturday night flagship's Christmas Day special.

Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, said: "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. They're the most brilliant team and we'll miss them every day.

"We will cry when we say the last 'keep dancing' but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza." It is understood that while show bosses knew of their joint exit, yesterday's announcement came as a surprise to some of the cast and crew.

Head judge Shirley Ballas posted on social media: "Hearing they're leaving the ballroom has broken my heart." She paid tribute to their "kindness, patience and generosity" and added she would miss their dressing-room chats.

Shirley's words were echoed by fellow judges, dancers, contestants and figures across showbusiness with speculation rife over who will replace the popular pairing.