BBC Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox has given her honest opinion of Strictly Come Dancing’s new presenting trio of Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe after missing out on the job herself
Sara was in the running to be one of the new presenters(Image: PA)
Sara Cox has given her honest opinion on Strictly Come Dancing new presenters – after she missed out on the big job herself. Sara was among those linked with replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, but ultimately lost out to Emma Willis.
Emma has been joined in the hot seat by former Strictly pro Johannes Radebe and comedian Josh Widdicombe. After three weekends of shows, the reaction to the new hosts has been mixed.
While Emma has been widely praised, opinions on Josh have been more polarising, while some fans have pointed out Johannes lacks live presenting experience. Common complaints centre on the idea that ‘three’s a crowd’ and the format worked better with just two.
Now Sara has shared her candid thoughts on the new trio of hosts. While the fresh presenting lineup has faced some backlash from viewers and former Strictly professionals and participants, Sara spoke enthusiastically about Emma, Johannes and Josh.
Speaking to Heat magazine, she acknowledged the Strictly overhaul is “a big deal”, revealing she’s whipped herself into a frenzy.
Sara said: “I think it is really exciting and I love all three of them. Emma especially has done loads of live TV. That really is her happy place and she’s brilliant at it,” reports the Express.
Discussing whether she has offered any guidance to Emma, Johannes and Josh, she continued: “If you go to work and you’re a brain surgeon, it’s life or death. If you go to work and it’s on the radio or on telly, it’s just entertainment.
“Hopefully, you know no-one’s going to die. They’re a really good team and they’re going to look after each other.”
Sara has previously opened up about the “cloak and dagger” nature of Strictly presenter auditions, describing the experience as “fun pandemonium”.
BBC bosses kept interviewees in the dark about who they would be screen testing alongside, while creating a fictitious show title to ensure the taxi firm remained oblivious to the fact they were ferrying potential presenters to Strictly auditions.
Speaking on her Radio 2 show with Emma as a guest, Sara said: “Can we talk about the fun pandemonium of those secret auditions. The car turned up to pick you up and not saying where it’s taking you, which was weird as a control freak.”
Emma, 50, confirmed that she had a similar experience. The new Strictly presenter said: “It was the most cloak and dagger thing I’ve ever been a part of.
“They wouldn’t tell us who we were screen testing with, would they? They wouldn’t tell us where we were going. They made up a fake TV show for the cab company so that nobody would get suspicious.”
Sara added: “So the cab company didn’t leak anything and it was something like, Britain’s Lovely Gardens. That’s the show we were all going on auditioning for.”
Emma admitted to feeling nervous but says the BBC producers put her “straight at ease” – and she ultimately landed the role.
