'I wish my dad could know about this...' Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly reveals MBE heartbreak
Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly has been appointed an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List for services to broadcasting, and she wished her late dad, Vivian, was alive to celebrate her achievement.
Tess Daly is heartbroken she cannot celebrate her MBE appointment with her late dad.
The 56-year-old TV star lost Vivian in 2003 - a year before she co-hosted BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing with the late Sir Bruce Forsyth - and said it would mean everything if he could see that Tess' services to broadcasting has been recognised with a Member of the Order of the British Empire honour from King Charles, 76,
Speaking to Fearne Cotton, 43, on the latest episode of the Happy Place podcast, she said: "I wish my dad could know about this because I sadly lost him many years ago, about 22 years ago, before I even had kids.
"So he never saw me on Strictly. He loved Bruce. He loved ballroom dancing. He'd have loved that moment.
"And there are certain things that you wish could have happened, and I would have loved him to have sort of known that this had happened because that would have meant the world."
And Tess - who is married to Vernon Kay and has daughters Phoebe, 20, and Amber, 16, with the 51-year-old BBC Radio 2 presenter - has not fully taken in being given an MBE.
She said: "I haven't sort of looked back and thought, 'Oh, it's for this.'
"It's an incredible honour. And I haven't really taken it in yet.
"I suppose when I actually get to hold the medal, wear it and have it pinned to me, that's going to be when it really sinks in."
Tess and her Strictly co-presenter, 53-year-old Claudia Winkleman - who replaced Sir Bruce when he died in 2017 aged 89, and has also been appointed an MBE for services to broadcasting - said being named in King Charles' Birthday Honours List in June trumps everything she had achieved in her life.
The former model admitted: "It's a wonderful honour to receive, and it's like the greatest thing that's ever happened to me."
Tess recently admitted she almost lost out on accepting her MBE after her letter got sent to the wrong address.
The Buckinghamshire resident is quoted by BBC News as saying: "This genuinely came as the greatest surprise of my life.
"I don't think I've come back down to earth yet. I didn't see it coming, and it almost didn't happen, because the letter went to the wrong address.
"And thank goodness, someone very kind found me. And so by the time I got it, I only had, I think it was two or three days left to accept it.
"There's a deadline of acceptance. I can't imagine not ever wanting to accept such a wonderful award, but of course I did."
