Bradley Walsh seems to have taken himself out of the running for the hosting job on Strictly Come Dancing. The TV star, 65, was amongst a list of other well-known television faces thought to be up for the presenting role on the hit BBC show, following the departure of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman towards the end of last year.
The star, who has carved out a major presenting career in the years since he played Danny Baldwin on Coronation Street with long-running game show The Chase and the BBC’s Gladiators with his son Barney, was thought to be a top choice of bosses along with other TV favourites like Rylan Clark, Zoe Ball, and Angela Scanlon.
The programme, which last year was won by Lioness Karen Carney and professional partner Carlos Gu, normally airs on a weekly basis from late September right up until just before Christmas. A live broadcast takes place on Saturday evenings, and then a results show is pre-recorded straight after and shown on Sundays.
4View 4 ImagesThe star is heading back on tour with his TV pals (Image: bradderswalsh/Instagram)
4View 4 ImagesThe Prat Pack will hit the road exactly when Strictly is meant to start up again(Image: bradderswalsh/Instagram)
Away from TV, Bradley is part of The Prat Pack, a tribute band, alongside I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! winner Joe Pasquale as well as EastEnders stars Brian Conley and Shane Richie. On Thursday, he took to Instagram to reveal that the quartet, who perform classics made famous by music legends like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, will be back on the road soon.
He said: “Hello Instas, can’t wait to get on the road and SO looking forward to get to Scotland!! I’m hoping my family turn up cos I left a jumper at my cousin Brian’s house in 1974 ! Lots of love, Brad x [sic].”
The tour opens on September 2 in Edinburgh and visits various venues across the UK until the end of the month, meaning that, logistically, it would be tricky for Bradley to fit Strictly Come Dancing into his schedule.
A source told The Sun: “Bradley’s announcement looks to be the surest sign yet he’s not the new Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. “The Prat Pack perform as a foursome so there’s no chance Bradley can be covered for clashes, and by the same token he would be needed by the BBC for most of September for pre-records and Press.
“There are just four days off on the tour. It’s unlikely it would have been unveiled this week, with tickets put on sale, if a Strictly update announcing Bradley as host was imminent.”
View 4 ImagesThe quartet of TV favourites perform tracks made famous by music legends like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin(Image: Publicity picture)
It comes just hours after the lineup of this year’s professionals was confirmed by the BBC amid what has been called a “bloodbath” as a host of them were axed from their long-running roles on the series.
Returning to the dance floor later this year are: new mum Dianne Buswell, Julian Caillon, Amy Dowden, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Jowita Przystał, Johannes Radebe, Aljaž Škorjanec, Alexis Warr, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley and Vito Coppola.
In addition to the returning Pros, there will be brand new professional dancers joining the line-up in 2026 – the BBC has said they will be confirmed closer to the return of the show as the 24th series hits our screens in September.
Back once again for the new series will be an unchanged judging panel – Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas who will be casting a watchful eye over the performances each week, giving their expert view on the dances and delivering their all-important scores.
And the much-loved themed weeks will return too, including Movies, Icons, Halloween and Musicals plus the Instant Dance challenge, following its high-energy debut in 2025.
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