Strictly's New Presenter Emma Willis Shares Behind-the-Scenes Glimpses of Launch Night

Strictly Come Dancing's new presenter Emma Willis offered a behind-the-scenes look at the show's launch night through photos shared on Instagram.

Willis, 43, posted on Sunday, providing insights into the preparations for the series' kickoff. One image showed Willis practicing a script alongside co-hosts Johannes Radebe, 39, and Josh Widdicombe, 43, with the autocue visible. Another photo featured Radebe posing in a red dressing gown next to the show's official promotional image. The behind-the-scenes content also included professional dancers preparing for their entrance and a dress rehearsal of the group dance.

Willis captioned the post, "Here's the #Strictly story so far." Her predecessor, Claudia Winkleman, showed her support by commenting with heart emojis. Many of Willis's celebrity friends also shared messages of praise in the comments section following the launch episode.

On Saturday, the pre-recorded launch show reached a peak of 5.8 million viewers according to overnight figures, a slight increase from the previous year's 5.6 million peak. However, the episode's average viewership was 5.3 million, down from 5.4 million in 2025.

While many viewers responded positively to Willis, with some calling her "the goddess of British TV," others questioned the decision to have three hosts. Social media reactions included comments expressing a preference for the previous hosting duo of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, with some finding the new trio "odd" and questioning the necessity of three presenters. Some viewers specifically noted that Widdicombe did not seem to fit the show.

Willis, Radebe, and Widdicombe took over presenting duties after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly stepped down from the show in the previous year.