Bradley Walsh appears to have dropped the biggest hint yet that he is out of the running to host Strictly. So who will be named as the new hosts of the show?
The star, 65, has long been rumoured for the role. However, his latest career move appears to have put the rumours to bed.
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New Strictly hosts: Bradley Walsh ‘rules himself out’
In a new post on his Instagram, Bradley appeared to rule himself out of hosting Strictly by revealing that he will be on tour throughout September. And tickets are now on sale.
Strictly usually begins in September, running through until December. This means that the dates wouldn’t work out for The Chase star.
Alongside Joe Pasquale, Shane Richie, and Brian Conley, Bradley will be embarking on a 17-date tour across the UK for their show – The Prat Pack’s Back.
The tour will begin in Edinburgh on September 2 and end on September 26 at the London Palladium.
Speaking to The Sun, a source claimed that Bradley’s tour announcement is the “surest sign” he won’t be taking to the ballroom floor to host the show later this year.
Bradley Walsh ‘out of Strictly hosting gig race’
“Bradley’s announcement looks to be the surest sign yet he’s not the new Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman,” the source said.
“The Prat Pack perform as a foursome, so there’s no chance Bradley can be covered for clashes, and by the same token, he would be needed by the BBC for most of September for pre-records and Press,” they then continued.
“There are just four days off on the tour. It’s unlikely it would have been unveiled this week, with tickets put on sale, if a Strictly update announcing Bradley as host was imminent.”
ED! has contacted Bradley’s representatives for comment.
BBC shares statement on new hosts
Earlier this week, the BBC announced that judges Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, and Craig Revel Horwood will all be returning to the show this year.
They also revealed which dancers will be coming back for the 2026 series.
They are Alexis Warr, Aljaz Skorjanec, Amy Dowden, current champion Carlos Gu, Dianne Buswell, Johannes Radebe, Jowita Przystal, Julian Caillon, Kai Widdrington, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley, Nancy Xu, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin and Vito Coppola.
The BBC also added: “Further plans for Strictly Come Dancing 2026, including the new hosts, new Professional Dancers joining the line-up and the celebrity cast of 2026, will be confirmed in due course.”
Names such as Alex Jones, Rylan Clark and Zoe Ball are all in the frame to host.
Read more: Gemma Atkinson hits back at claims she was behind Gorka Marquez’s Strictly exit
Strictly will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this year.
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