Strictly Come Dancing's ratings have fallen since Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe took over as hosts, with some viewers bluntly saying they are switching off.
The new hosting team has divided audiences, with some feeling they are not settling into their roles as well as Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, who departed the show. Some have argued that the hosting style of the new presenters leaves much to be desired.
Viewing figures drop
Ratings for last Saturday's episode, which aired on October 10, dropped to 5.0 million viewers (44% share). This is a decline from 5.1 million viewers during Movie Week the previous week and a drop from 6.31 million for the same episode last year.
Similarly, the viewership for Sunday's results show on October 11 fell sharply to around 4.5 million viewers, a significant decrease from the 6.5 million who watched during the same week in 2025.
Fans react to new hosts
Some fans have argued that Widdicombe's stand-up style and pre-written jokes disrupt the flow of the show. Many Strictly viewers on social media believe that Willis is more than capable of hosting the main floor solo and have urged producers to move Josh upstairs.
Popular X account Super TV shared the ratings figures on the platform, and saw scores of viewers posting that they would be "sticking with it". One fan wrote: "I'm sticking with Strictly, I'm not listening to all the doom mongers on here who want it to fail."
Another agreed: "I look forward to watching Strictly Come Dancing evening Saturday night no matter what the viewing figures are." A fan added: "I am sticking with Strictly but Josh Widdicombe and all the dancers feeling a bit 'samey' is putting me off a bit."
Another Strictly fan stated: "The hosts are actually good this year. Emma is the best host they have ever had."
Some viewers tune out
Despite this, other fans weren't as willing to stay with the show: "We used to be super fans, but largely due to the dumbing down of the show, we just watch the results show with remote in hand to skip any unwelcome 'noise!' It's really that poor now!"
Another fan added: "The programme is just too long. We had an unexpected drama which meant we missed it, if you don't catch up then there are spoilers to avoid so we just didn't bother. I fast forwarded through the results programme to see who left and that was it." Some viewers admitted they had tuned out of the show altogether, with one person bluntly stating: "Bye bye Strictly."
Industry insiders and fans have attributed the ongoing decline to several factors, including mixed reactions to the new presenting lineup and frustration over Sunday's results being leaked online before the broadcast. BBC representatives emphasise that traditional overnight figures do not include catch-up viewing via BBC iPlayer and other on-demand platforms, where a growing number of viewers now watch the show.
