Strictly Come Dancing was named Best Talent Show at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night, and Karen Carney used her acceptance speech to send a message to former hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
The BBC dancing competition is set to return later this month without Tess and Claudia, who announced their departure late last year and hosted their final series in 2025. They are being replaced by Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, who will form the show's first ever presenting trio.
Changes to the Strictly line-up
Alongside Johannes's move to presenting, the professional dancer line-up has also seen changes, with Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas and Gorka Marquez all leaving the series. Five new professional dancers are joining the show: Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby and Mark Karmalita.
This year's launch show will air at 7.25pm on Saturday, September 19, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The cast includes EastEnders actress Lacey Turner, singer Delta Goodrem, former Manchester City player Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Gavin & Stacey star Melanie Walters.
Strictly's NTA win
On Tuesday night, the class of 2025 represented Strictly for one final time at the NTAs, hosted by Joel Dommett for the sixth year in a row. Strictly beat Britain's Got Talent, The Great British Bake Off, The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, and The Great Pottery Throw Down to win the award.
Karen Carney, who won the Glitterball trophy last year with Carlos Gu, accepted the award. She said: “Thank you to everyone who voted for Strictly Come Dancing to win the NTA award. We’d be nothing without our fans, so thank you very much.
“To our four fabulous judges, we love you very much even when you give us rough marks… Craig. To our wonderful professional dancers who are incredible, patient, kind, dedicated, we’re lucky to have you.
“To the cast, you told us your journeys, who you are and your dancing capabilities, which were incredible,” she said.
Message to Tess and Claudia
Praising the former hosts, Karen continued: “To Tess and Claudia, who sadly couldn’t be with us tonight. Thank you for giving us the privilege of being on your final series of Strictly.
“To the heartbeat of Strictly, that’s everyone behind the scenes. We might be front-facing, but everyone from costumes, hair, make-up, to talent, everyone who makes Strictly, thank you, this is your award.
“Finally, on behalf of the cast of 2025, we want to wish the new cast for 2026 all the very best. Strictly Come Dancing will be coming back on September 19. I’ll be drinking a glass of wine and thinking about who has been paired with who. Good luck and thank you all so much, keep dancing.”
