Tess Daly said Strictly Come Dancing is 'a national treasure'
Tess Daly said Strictly Come Dancing is 'a national treasure'
Strictly Come Dancing co-presenter Tess Daly has hinted that she fears the show has a shelf-life - because it will run out of top-notch celebrities.
The ballroom dancing show is returning to BBC One for its 11th series, with BBC Breakfast host Susanna Reid, fashion designer Julien Macdonald, multimillionaire entrepreneur Deborah Meaden and broadcaster Vanessa Feltz among the line-up.
Tess, 44, said the show was "a gift" and "a national treasure", adding that "being part of such a juggernaut is a huge honour".
She told the Radio Times: "We never thought it would last this long and I don't want it ever to end, but the celebrity pool is getting smaller. We must have gone through 150 and we pride ourselves on a higher class of contestant. We have standards to maintain."
She said of the celebrities: "I've only come across those who really enjoy it. Louis Smith (Olympic medal-winning gymnast and last year's winner) said he'd never felt sexier than performing his Patrick Swayze Dirty Dancing routine holding Flavia (Cacace) aloft. It transforms people. It's a sexy show - the routines, music, costumes, a good-looking cast."
The age disparity between younger women and older men in presenting teams, such as former model Tess and her co-presenter Sir Bruce Forsyth, 85, has been criticised as sexist.
Asked how she would feel if Strictly bosses reversed the pairing to hire an 85-year-old woman and a younger man, she said: "That wouldn't happen, and this sort of thing is only an issue when people like you raise it and I have to defend my position as a woman."
The BBC was lambasted in 2009 for replacing Arlene Phillips, 66, with Alesha Dixon, 30, on the judging panel, with critics saying that age had been a factor, but Tess said: "I have no idea. It's not an issue in my experience."
Tess's appearance in a plunging red gown caused a stir among Strictly viewers last year.
She said: "Dressing up is part of the fun for me. What girl wouldn't like to indulge her love of fashion? Strangers stop me in the street and say they can't wait to see what I'm wearing, so I want it to be fabulous.
There are certain rules: if you're showing too much shoulder, you wouldn't expose a lot of thigh. It's not my thing to go over the top."
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