Richard Osman has pinpointed an "impossible" problem with the new Strictly Come Dancing format, saying one aspect is "not going to work going forward".
Strictly returned to screens with the first live show of Series 24 over the weekend, fronted by new presenters Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe. The trio stepped in for long-time hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly after their departure from the series was confirmed last year.
Early teething issues
The new format appears to have suffered a few early teething issues. Josh specifically has divided fans, with some suggesting the trio format "doesn't work". One viewer expressed curiosity as to whether producers might "rotate or alternate" the hosts to shake things up.
Richard and his Rest is Entertainment co-host, Marina Hyde, also noticed the problems. Speaking on a recent episode, Marina said that if it were her decision, she wouldn't have added a third person.
She said: "The bit that Emma has to do when you've got two exhausted people come off from doing their dance. They have to sort of get their breath back, you have to have a bit of chit-chat with the judges, then the judges have to do their judging."
"I felt adding Josh in to do some jokes as well, it's quite complicated down there."
Producers know
Richard, who has plenty of experience as a TV producer himself, said: "I can't stress too much that, however many pilots you've done, and launch shows, and run-throughs and stuff, that the producers are watching that more carefully than viewers are watching it. The producers know."
He said the hosts were also watching closely and would be aware that you don't "get it completely right the first time". Richard pointed out that each host has a unique offering and suggested that some ironing out is only natural.
Richard continued: "I think that the Johannes thing is interesting because at the moment, he's doing exactly what Claudia did, which is you throw to Johannes. The producers have given him two talking points."
Richard noted that Claudia was skilled with this format, but with Johannes, it's not "who he is". He said, as a trained dancer, Johannes brings "something else", and his unique offering to the role needs to be uncovered.
'Not going to work going forward'
Richard added: "At the moment, they're doing, 'You do exactly what Claudia did. We'll feed you these two bits of vanilla information, you talk to the dancer and the celebrity, and then you throw it back to Emma and Josh', but Johannes can't do anything with that."
He theorised that "no producer" would be watching and thinking they'd "nailed" it. As for Emma and Josh, Richard suggests a similar problem could be present and that establishing the two-part role may be "tricky".
"And writing for two people, one of whom is a comic and one of whom is not a comic, is sort of impossible. You know, that is sort of impossible. Now, when you're a producer, when you're making that show, you've got a billion different things to think about."
"So the first thing you do is, 'Okay, we'll put JoJo up there; we'll do what we used to with Claudia. We'll put Josh and Emma down there. We'll do what we used to do with Tess, right?' I think, probably, that's not going to work going forward."
