Tess Daly always has Strictly Come Dancing 'contingency card'
Tess Daly always has a "contingency card" in case things go wrong on the live episodes of Strictly Come Dancing.
Tess Daly always has a "contingency card" in case things go wrong on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 56-year-old presenter - who co-hosts the BBC Latin and ballroom contest with Claudia Winkleman - revealed there are plans in place for every potential problem that could hit the live show when the couples are dancing.
Speaking to Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, she said: "It's real, we do not contrive reality. You're watching it in real time. If someone falls being brought down from the ceiling on a wire into a Paso Doble...I'm on standby with a contingency card, every single routine, just in case something goes wrong.
"In case the music goes wrong and the band has to start again, in case someone gets stuck coming down on a wire, in case someone jumps into someone's arms and doesn't quite make it and falls. There's always a contingency."
Tess finds it particularly stressful when the show relocates to the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom for one week because the set is more "elaborate and ambitious".
Asked if hosting the show is stressful, she said: "Yeah, especially in Blackpool because it's a huge venue and the sets are a lot more elaborate and ambitious, and a lot more could go wrong. I'm a lot further away from the floor, so I have to canter in those heels at speed, poised with a contingency card just in case something happens or the props aren't ready."
And while props teams are usually primed to turn around the sets in 90 seconds, Tess is on stand-by just in case they overrun.
She said: "I'm poised in case they don't quite make it and I need to go and question the judges."
The blonde beauty feels "really privileged" to be part of the show.
She said: "It's always felt like having a seat at the best show in town, I've always felt really privileged to be part of something that people really enjoy.
"To be part of people's viewing habits and something that brings them together is really special. You never take it for granted that people are going to come back and watch."
