Chris McCausland up for co-hosting Strictly Come Dancing with Dianne Buswell
Strictly Come Dancing 2024 winner Chris McCausland said it would be a dream for him and his former professional dance partner, Dianne Buswell, to co-host the BBC show.
Chris McCausland thinks he and Dianne Buswell would make great Strictly Come Dancing co-hosts.
However, the 48-year-old comedian - who, with Dianne, 36, won the BBC Latin and Ballroom dance competition in 2024 - would let his former professional dance partner do all the hard work if they replaced former co-presenters Tess Daly, 56, and 54-year-old Claudia Winkleman.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Dish from Waitrose podcast, Chris quipped to hosts Nick Grimshaw, 41, and 57-year-old Angela Hartnett: "I think me and Dianne as a double act would make a good host pair.
"Dianne would have to have the job downstairs, watching the dancing. I'd be upstairs eating pretzels, like Claudia always did."
Chris - who became the first blind contestant to take part in Strictly Come Dancing - would make two big changes if he were in charge of the programme.
The star - who had a complete loss of sight by the age of 22 due to retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition - said: "I would get rid of the Paso Doble and the Samba, and I would banish them as never being dances again."
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the BBC wants Strictly Come Dancing to continue having an all-female presenting team, following the success of Tess and Claudia - who quit the programme at the end of the 2025 series.
And it has been claimed that former Big Brother host Emma Willis, 49, and Strictly Come Dancing alum Zoe Ball, 55, are in a "straight shoot-out" to host the Saturday night dance competition alongside a "female stand-up comedian".
A source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "It’s a straight shoot-out between Zoe, who is the front-runner, and Emma. Only one will get it, not both.
"The senior execs want a traditional presenter working alongside a more left-field person, a female stand-up comedian.
"It’s felt the humour Claudia brought to the show, particularly in her 'Claudatorium', needs to carry on."
Speculation about Zoe - who replaced Claudia in fronting the Strictly Come Dancing spin-off show It Takes Two from 2011 until 2021, and also hosted the live tour in 2011 and 2015 - co-fronting the show came after she quit her BBC Radio 2 Saturday show in December 2025.
And in January, the star - who finished third on Strictly Come Dancing in 2005 with her 55-year-old professional dance partner, Ian Waite - told The Sunday Times' Style Magazine that she "would love" to take Tess or Claudia's job.
In December 2025, Zoe's 87-year-old dad, TV personality Johnny Ball, told The Express that she was in the running to co-host Strictly Come Dancing, and that a decision would be made in the spring.
On Monday (23.02.26), The Sun reported that BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox, 51, has also been tipped to co-present the dance competition
A BBC spokesperson said plans for the 2026 series of Strictly Come Dancing will be announced "in due course".
Dish from Waitrose is available on all podcast providers.
