Strictly Come Dancing suffered a significant drop in viewing figures for its first live results show, prompting former professional dancer Ola Jordan to question the chemistry of the new hosting team.
Chris Appleton and Amy Dowden were eliminated after a dance-off against Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu on Sunday. The Sunday show attracted just 4.5 million viewers, compared with 6.2 million last year, according to ratings data shared by Digital i.
Meanwhile, the first live show of the year peaked at 5 million viewers, while 2025's first live show averaged 6.2 million views.
New Hosts Face Backlash
The new hosting trio of presenter Emma Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe and dancer Johannes Radebe has faced criticism, with viewers particularly calling out Widdicombe's hosting skills. Speaking to Mecca Bingo, former Strictly winner Jordan said Widdicombe comes across as "really nervous" and that Willis should "take over more".
Discussing the new line-up, she said: "It's just so fresh at the moment. I think Emma is amazing and I would like her to talk more. I would like her to take over more. The other two, obviously, I think they're still finding their feet.
"It was a bit messy at times, with the links with Johannes Radebe for example. I think they just need to clean it all up and make it a bit cleaner for next time."
Widdicombe's Apparent Blunders
Discussing the backlash surrounding Widdicombe, she added: "I think maybe Josh Widdicombe is really nervous still, so I think we're not getting that comedy as we would like to. I think he needs to maybe warm up a bit more and maybe he's just really nervous."
A BBC spokesperson said of the ratings: "The UK's most watched programmes this weekend were Strictly Come Dancing and the Strictly Come Dancing results show. As ever, overnight ratings do not give the full picture of all those who watch in an on-demand world."
Widdicombe has been under fire after a series of apparent blunders during the live shows, with critics claiming he kept "missing his cue" and looked like a "spare part". After chatting with contestant Cach Mercer backstage, Radebe asked, "Who's dancing now?" and cut to Widdicombe standing onstage in silence, before realising it was his cue to speak.
The same issue appeared to happen again during a different handover. Widdicombe broke his silence after the backlash by re-sharing a round-up post from the official Strictly Instagram page. It was captioned, "Caught on camera from week one!" and featured a snap of him flashing a peace sign while posing backstage with Willis.
Support and Social Media Response
The comments on the post were full of support for Widdicombe, with fans saying they were "saddened" by the "disgusting" backlash. Willis later appeared to hit out at "judgy" people with her own pointed post on social media. The Voice presenter shared a snap of a pink canvas with blue writing that read: "You will get judged either way so may as well pick the fun option."
