Former Strictly Come Dancing pro James Jordan has shared his thoughts on who should step into the BBC show’s hosting roles exclusively with GB News.
The presenting gigs are up for grabs after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced earlier this year that the 2025 series would be their last.
In an emotional statement, the pair said it now felt like the “right time” to bid farewell to the long-running dance competition, revealing they’d always agreed to bow out together.
And in the weeks since, several big names have been tipped to take over, but there’s two that are head and shoulders above the rest according to Mr Jordan.
When asked by GB News who should take over from Ms Winkleman and Ms Daly, Mr Jordan didn’t mince his words.
“You know what? I’ve heard recently ‘that the favourites are now Bradley Walsh and Alex Jones,” he began.
“Now, I danced with Alex Jones. She’s absolutely adorable. I love her. Bradley Walsh, when I was first asked who I would want to be on, he was top of my list.
“I love watching him. I think he’s a brilliant presenter. I think he’s maybe a bit more of that old school kind of entertainer. He’s quirky, he’s funny. I think it’s a great call.”
While the two may have emerged as frontrunners with some bookmakers, Mr Jordan did have one or two others to throw into the discussion.
“I also threw Vernon Kay in the mix. Vernon Kay, I know, that would be funny taken over from Tess. But, yeah, I think Bradley Walsh and Alex Jones would be great. I also love Zoe Ball,” he explained.
” So, for me, I love Vernon Kay. I think he’s an underrated presenter. Vernon Kay, Bradley Walsh, Alex Jones, Zoe Ball. For me, all the other names that I’ve heard so far are kind of like, ‘Meh’.”
But whoever the BBC gets through the door, Mr Jordan hopes they won’t be employed to appease the politically correct masses. “I just hope they don’t try and tick another box when they’re bringing on the new presenter,” he went on.
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“Don’t bring someone on just to tick a box, bring on the right person for the show, because if you keep doing all this box-ticking malarkey, woke s**t that they do, eventually people will just switch off.
“People love Strictly, get the best person for the job to bring back that magic that it used to have back in the day because I feel it’s lost its magic.”
Other names who’ve entered the race include Angela Scanlon, Rylan Clark, Janette Manrara, Fleur East, Hannah Waddingham, Kevin Clifton, and Stacey Dooley, among others.
The BBC is yet to make a concrete decision, with a spokesperson confirming that all 2026 developments will be announced in due course.
In the meantime, when speaking to GB News in his role as betting expert for Freebets, the home of new casino sites, Mr Jordan also shared his opinions on the latest Strictly elimination.
Ellie Goldstein was the latest ballroom casualty, bowing out of the show with partner Vito Coppola after losing the dance-off to Balvinder Sopal.
“Really difficult one, because I do read lots of stuff in the press and read people’s comments and things like that. Was she technically one of the better dancers? No, definitely not,” Mr Jordan’s critique began.
” Did I enjoy watching her more than some of the other better dancers? Yes, I did. I found her so infectious. I thought it was the perfect pairing. Vito was amazing with her.
Bradley Walsh has emerged as a frontrunner for the Strictly vacancy
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” The fact that he was dancing with the first person that they’ve had on Strictly with Down Syndrome… When I heard about it first of all, I was like, ‘Oh, is this just ticking another box?’
“But then, after watching it, honestly, I loved watching them. They were actually my daughter’s favourite as well, and she’s five years old. So that puts it in perspective, and I think she’s inspired so many other people out there who would have Down syndrome.
“I changed my view and think it was just such an amazing, amazing thing,” he added before admitting: ” I personally think she went too early.
“She didn’t have her best dance. I think it was probably her weakest dance out of all of them, but everyone has a weak dance and I thought the public would have still got behind her and supported her because I just thought they were so amazing to watch.
BBC Strictly: Ellie Goldstein and Vito Coppola were the latest couple eliminated
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BBC” So I was a bit gutted that she left, but at the same time, the judges made the right call when she was in the bottom two; they made the right decision, but I was surprised that she didn’t get more public support.”
At the other end of the leaderboard during Halloween Week were Lewis Cope and Katya Jones, who bagged the first perfect score of 40 of the series.
“That dance that Lewis and Katya did last week, I am categorically 100 percent telling you now, there’s not a professional now on that show that would have done that dance as well as him,” Mr Jordan said of their Couple’s Choice routine.
“That’s a massive statement for me to make as a professional dancer. I could not have done what he did in that dance because he did things from other genres of dance that I just physically wouldn’t be able to do, especially at my age.
“It was just from the music, the costumes, the choreography, which was done by Matt Flint, I believe, the way he went into an arch and she walked across him, the bit where he came off the floor on one hand, did like a backward handspring, the steps, the synchronicity, the energy that he had.
“I was watching his energy and I was thinking, ‘Oh, my God.’ It was from beginning to end, an epic, epic performance.
“And I have to say, I’ve seen some great performances on Strictly before, but for me, that is the best dance I’ve ever watched on Strictly Come Dancing.”