Josh Widdicombe reveals why Strictly’s 3-host line-up works

Josh Widdicombe says the new Strictly Come Dancing hosting line-up is working because nobody is trying to be the biggest personality in the room.

The 43-year-old comedian has joined BBC favourite Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe for the long-running series, with the trio set to front the first live show this weekend.

Widdicombe said the pair bring different strengths to the job and claimed the atmosphere behind the scenes has been all about teamwork.

“We feel like a team where there’s no ego. That there’s no one wanting to put themselves out front more than the others. That we feel like we’ve all got our different personalities and they gel together.

“Emma and Johannes are just so generous, sweet and funny – they make working on Strictly feel even more exciting and joyous to me.”

Radebe, 39, also praised the way the three of them have settled into the role, saying he loved that his co-hosts were “both completely themselves”. He said Willis is “such a formidable broadcaster” with an “incredible ability to make everything look effortless, while being incredibly precise and prepared”.

Of Widdicombe, he added: “And Joshy is just brilliantly funny, he has this wonderful ability to find the joke without forcing it.”

For Willis, 50, the appeal has been how naturally the trio have clicked.

She said Widdicombe and Radebe were “both so down to earth, humble, funny, lovely guys who both love Strictly with a passion and are here to do a great job and have fun. I think that’s all anyone would want – they’re just fab and we kind of gelled from the moment we met,” she said.

Widdicombe, meanwhile, admitted hosting the show for the first time was a huge moment.

He said leading Strictly’s opening episode was the “most brilliantly terrifying thing I’ve done. I had so much adrenaline on the night that I had to have two naps the day after!

“I don’t think at any point since getting the job had it felt real until we heard the music start up and Alan Dedicoat say our names. The whole thing was a mix of joy and exhaustion off the back of fear – and totally and utterly thrilling.”

He added: “I think it’s going to be really, really fun. It’s going to feel utterly surreal, just as terrifying as the first one. Will it ever stop being terrifying?

“I hope not, because hosting something like this should be the best kind of terrifying.”

Strictly Come Dancing returns for its first live show of the new season on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.