Former Strictly Come Dancing star and new It Takes Two host Ellie Taylor has weighed in on criticisms of the show’s new presenting line-up.
The comedian, 42, previously took part in the show back in 2022, when she was paired up with professional dancer Johannes Radebe, who this year was unveiled as one of the show’s new hosts.
Radebe is part of a presenting trio that also includes Emma Willis and comedian Josh Widdicombe, who made their debut back in September following the departure of Strictly hosting legends Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
This is also Taylor’s first season at the helm of It Takes Two, following a shake-up that saw former professional dancer Janette Manrara and ex-contestant Fleur East leave the spin-off programme.
Since this series kicked off, however, the main hosting trio has received mixed feedback, with viewers questioning the need for three presenters and Widdicombe in particular being seen as something of a spare part.
In an interview with The i Paper, Taylor defended her new colleagues and claimed that viewers may simply be resistant to change.
“People don’t like change,” she told the newspaper. “I think they’re great. There’s such a great energy in that room; they’re all so pumped to be there.”
In the future, she added, Willis, Widdicombe and Radebe will “settle into the roles even better than they already have”.
“Will everyone just chill out?” she continued. “The key bit of Strictly is the dancing. Let’s remember that all the fundamentals are there.”
Taylor also revealed that she was “absolutely thrilled just to get in the room” to be considered for a spot as a presenter on the main show, and was “really chuffed with how I did”, eventually landing It Takes Two as a result of her audition.
Willis’ musician husband Matt recently revealed that the presenter is not taking any notice of the early criticism, telling This Morning that “she doesn’t pay attention to anything, she’s very good at doing her job”.
“She just puts her head down, does her job the best she can,” he added. “She loves working with Josh and Jojo (Radebe) and they’re great and they’re brilliant and they’re lovely people and they’re just in all of this together.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.15pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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