Strictly Come Dancing 2026: Emma Willis admits she's 'terrified' ahead of hosting debut
Emma has opened up about her nervesEmma Willis‘ Strictly role is already making headlines, and the presenter has admitted she feels the pressure before her BBC debut.
Emma will co-host Strictly Come Dancing with Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.
The trio were confirmed in May. That announcement came months after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly said they were stepping away.
Emma Willis’ Strictly hosting role
TV star Emma discussed the new role with Josh on BBC Radio 2. She said the reaction to the line-up has already pushed expectations too high.
“Do you know what worries me?” she asked. “A few things I’ve read recently is that people go, well, people are going, ‘The chemistry was off the charts.’ I’m like, don’t set it that far, the bar that high, because then we’ve got nowhere to go!”
She added: “Yeah, go, ‘They all got on really well.’ Start there.”
Emma also tried to keep things in perspective. “But what fun we’re going to have,” she said.
Josh shared her excitement. “I know, I’m so excited,” he replied. He said the scale of the show only becomes clear once people join it.
“I know this sounds weird, because obviously it is a bit huge, and you know it’s huge, but you don’t realise how huge it is,” he said. “So you haven’t even been on it yet, and that’s all the people in the street talk to you about.”
Emma answered with a blunt admission: “Yeah, I keep going, ‘Yeah, thanks’ and they’re like, ‘Are you excited?’ I’m like, ‘I’m terrified.'”
Why Emma Willis’ Strictly job feels so big
The comments show why Emma Willis’ Strictly feels like such a major step. The BBC ballroom favourite has a huge following, and the new hosting team arrives with plenty of attention.
Claudia and Tess confirmed in October last year that they would leave after the 2025 series. They said it felt “like the right time” to move on.
In their joint Instagram statement, they said: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream.”
They added: “We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show.”
They finished with another tribute. “They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day.”
Strictly has also started building its 2026 celebrity line-up. So far, Chris Appleton, Lacey Turner, Delta Goodrem and Dani Dyer have signed up.
