One third of Strictly Come Dancing’s new presenting team has opened up about the audition process for the job – admitting he thought he was “rubbish” and “false” in the initial tryouts.
Josh Widdicombe will make his debut alongside Emma Willis and former professional Johannes Radebe in Saturday (19 September) night’s prerecorded launch show. But the 43-year-old comedian was shocked when he asked back after first meeting with producers.
Lifting the lid on the BBC’s audition process, the 43-year-old comedian has revealed that his first audition saw him tasked with interacting with judges Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke.
He then had to watch videos of famous dances from the show and react as if they’d just been performed.
Speaking to The Times, Widdicombe admitted: “I thought I was rubbish. Everything I said felt false. I didn’t know where to put my hands.”
Nevertheless, producers brought him back for a chemistry read with Wilis and Radebe, where it soon became clear that the trio would be perfect for the job.
“And from the moment we met, everyone was on the same wavelength, everyone was laughing,” he said.
Last week, the new presenters also revealed that the BBC came up with a fictitious TV show as a cover story to keep the screen tests under wraps. “They created a whole new name for a show for the cab drivers,” Willis said.
After months of speculation over who had landed the jobs, Strictly’s new presenting team was unveiled by the BBC in May, five months after longtime hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman said farewell to the ballroom.
Widdicombe has also addressed a report that claimed the launch show recording was “chaos”, with retakes and audience members allegedly walking out.
The inaugural episode of this year’s Strictly will air on Saturday (19 September) night and see each of the 15 celebrities taking part find out who their professional partner is.
“Yes, of course there were retakes – it’s a TV show,” he said. “Come to any panel show record and tell me after that that the Strictly launch show was a long night. It was just joyful compared to the comedy panel show world, where you spent three or four hours recording a half-hour show.”
His comments come after contestant Will Best urged naysayers to “reserve judgement” until they’ve seen the new look programme.
He told The Independent: “I have had the privilege of watching Jojo, Emma and Josh in action, and I think everybody is going to be absolutely blown away by how amazing those three are.
“Their chemistry together is so genuine and real. They’re each bringing something really different to the show, which is only going to make the show better.”
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