Home / Arts and Entertainment / Strictly Controversy: BBC Boss Pushes for Paddy McGuinness as Claudia Winkleman's Replacement
Strictly Controversy: BBC Boss Pushes for Paddy McGuinness as Claudia Winkleman's Replacement
16 Nov
Summary
- BBC Studios boss Suzy Lamb wants Paddy McGuinness to replace Claudia Winkleman on Strictly
- McGuinness's past hosting of ITV's "Take Me Out" raises concerns about his suitability
- Strictly colleagues are "aghast" at the prospect of McGuinness joining the show
In November 2025, it was reported that one of Strictly Come Dancing's most senior bosses, Suzy Lamb, the managing director of BBC Studios, has put forward Paddy McGuinness as a potential replacement for Claudia Winkleman, who announced she was quitting the show.
Lamb, who previously worked with McGuinness when he hosted the ITV dating show "Take Me Out," believes he would be the "perfect fit" to interview contestants, a role Winkleman made her own. However, the prospect of McGuinness taking over Strictly has prompted "much fury" among Lamb's colleagues, with some "aghast" that she would want the show to have any connection to "Take Me Out" and its "innuendos and casual sexism."
A BBC source said, "As if you would base Strictly on a show like Take Me Out. Strictly is a national treasure." The source also noted that McGuinness "hardly has the track record to be doing such a role," given that his previous BBC shows, Top Gear and A Question of Sport, were both axed under his watch.
Despite the backlash, Lamb has been one of McGuinness's biggest supporters at the BBC. Shortly after she arrived in 2018, he was handed the job of fronting Top Gear, and in 2021, he took over A Question of Sport, though the show was later axed due to declining ratings.
Winkleman, 53, and Tess Daly, 56, will leave Strictly at the end of the current series, and other potential replacements have been named, including Alan Carr, Bradley Walsh, Holly Willoughby, and Hannah Waddingham.
