The BBC's Strictly Come Dancing 2026 series, the first without stalwarts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, has not got off to the smoothest of starts, with the new trio of presenters attracting criticism from fans. But despite the outcry from viewers about problems with new faces Josh Widdicombe and Emma Willis, it was the third host, pro dancer Johannes Radebe, who was the most disappointing for fans watching from the studio, according to one person who claimed to be in the audience.
Audience member shares experience on Reddit
The Strictly superfan took to Reddit on Monday morning to share their take on the second live show of the series, which saw Melanie Walters become the second celebrity to be eliminated alongside pro partner Aljaz Skorjanec. Despite the criticism Josh and Emma have faced from some fans online, this viewer said that Josh was 'much funnier in person' and that both Emma and Josh were 'pretty solid in terms of their presenting duties'.
Johannes, however, was 'constantly messing up his lines' when it came to the pre-recorded results show, and 'added so much time to the interviews' doing retakes. They also claimed that some technical errors and gaffes led to retakes among the pro dancers, and confirmed that the Sunday results show was indeed filmed on Saturday night, straight after the main show.
Details from the recording
The poster said: "So yesterday afternoon/evening, I was lucky enough to attend the main show and recording of the results show. It was a lot of fun! Some thoughts:
"The warm up guy, Stuart Holdham, was great the entire evening.
"It was a little strange when he introduced the presenters because Emma and Josh were brought out first and then Johannes separately. JoJo did get a huge ovation because he's very popular but it almost felt like he was being presented as the lead host, which is not how I see him.
"The Shirley in the wheelie bin sketch was pre-recorded in advance of the live broadcast.
"I actually thought Josh was much funnier in person, and I enjoyed his jokes about Anton being the grumpy one this week.
"I would also say Josh and Emma were pretty solid in terms of their presenting duties, on both the main and results show.
"The results show is where things started to get tiring. Johannes was easily the worst culprit for constantly messing up his lines from the teleprompter and it added so much time to the interviews he and Josh would do upstairs, as they had to constantly do another take over and over."
Retakes and delays
They added: "When Katya announced what song she and John would dance to next week, the music didn't play, she thought she was being pranked. They had to film that bit again, which included John reacting like he had no idea what the song might be.
"Diane also struggled to remember Elton John's name when revealing the song for next week, so they filmed that 3/4 times until she said it right.
"Everyone loved Vito's tiramisu, but then there was some kind of spoon continuity issue so things had to be reshot there as well.
"We were told the recording would finish around 23:15, but with constant retakes delaying everything, we didn't manage to leave until just after midnight.
"It was pretty exhausting towards the end but I had a fun time. Also, the musical act, Jalen Ngonda, was awesome."
Elimination details
On Saturday night's episode, Melanie and Aljaz had performed a Charleston to Ooh Ahh... Just A Little Bit by Gina G, receiving a score of 17 from the judges. Judge Craig Revel Horwood said he "didn't love" their dance while Motsi Mabuse encouraged her to "keep going". After finishing in the bottom two on the first two weeks of the competition, the judges sent the pair home.
Speaking to host Emma Willis, Melanie said: "To be honest, no truth of a lie, I thought I was going to be out last week." Her professional partner told the actress she was the "ultimate professional". "You showed me what hard work really is and what it means," he said.
Following the show, she posted on Instagram: "So sorry to be leaving the show. Huge thanks for all your support. All the luck and love to my fellow remaining contestants, and the biggest thanks of all to the beautiful soul and amazing teacher, @aljazskorjanec. Love you! It's been a blast."
On Sunday night's results episode, they were sent into the dance-off against former footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and his partner Alexis Warr – who had received a score of 15 for their quickstep to I'm A Believer by The Monkees. After both couples performed their routines again, the judges delivered their verdicts on who they wanted to save. While Mabuse wanted to save Walters, fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Revel Horwood all chose to save Wright-Phillips and Warr. The eliminated couple will appear on It Takes Two on Monday.
