Josh Widdicombe landed Strictly job by sending joke text
Comedian Josh Widdicombe has confessed his landed his new job presenting Strictly Come Dancing by sending a joke text to one of the producers as they started searching for new hosts to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Josh Widdicombe landed his new job presenting Strictly Come Dancing by sending a joke text to one of the producers.
The Last Leg star is one of three new hosts who will be fronting the new series of the BBC show - alongside Emma Willis and dancer Johannes Radebe - and he's now revealed he became friends with one of Strictly's executive producers, Sarah James, while working on the 2024 Christmas special as a contestant so he fired off a light-hearted message to her when he heard they were searching for new hosts to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Josh revealed the text read: "All right, I'll take the job". However, he worried he had misjudged the moment when he didn't hear back and was relieved when she got back in touch the next day.
However, Josh told The Times newspaper he was stunned when producers contacted him again several months later to tell him he was seriously being considered as one of the new hosts.
He said: "Was I unconsciously putting my hat in the ring with this text that was perhaps my greatest ever career move? I think that is something I will be dealing with with a therapist for the next 20 years."
However, Josh had only just moved house - swapping London for the countryside in the south west of the UK - with his wife and two children so he had to make a big decision about his future before entering talks with show producers.
He added: "We’d just moved from London to Exeter, the kids were happy in their school - do I really want to even engage with ripping my life up and doing this mad thing? ... Of course I do."
Josh described a meeting at a hotel with producers of Strictly - comparing it to a spy novel - and revealing he needed to have a cover story in place for his first audition.
He said: "There had been leaks before and it all felt a bit like being in a John le Carre novel."
Josh was convinced his early try-out was a dismal failure and was surprised to be asked back to test with Emma and Johannes.
He told the publication: "I thought I was rubbish. Everything I said felt false. I didn’t know where to put my hands ...
"[But after being paired with Emma and Johannes] ... from the moment we met, everyone was on the same wavelength, everyone was laughing."
He said of filming the launch show recently: "Then we did the launch show and I was like: 'Oh no, we’re good at this, this is fun' ... I am confident in this. I am not a rubbish comedian, I know that ...
"On the launch night the joy in the room was insane. It’s one of the least cynical places I have ever been. I think people overly focus on this weird negative sideshow that is adjacent to Strictly, and I just go, ‘I am not going to be a part of that'."
