As rumours continue to swirl around who will replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as hosts of Strictly Come Dancing, one of the apparent frontrunners has responded to speculation that she could land the job. Zoe Ball, who competed on the show in 2005 before hosting spin-off It Takes Two from 2011 to 2021, is currently one of the favourites among bookies. Speaking to Jo Whiley on their podcast Dig It, she suggested she's very much open to the idea of returning to the juggernaut.
Asked directly if she'd take on hosting duties, Zoe said: "I think everyone would like to do that job. It's an amazing job. It's the best Saturday night show.
"When I'm watching Ellie [Goldstein] dancing with Vito [Coppola] or Lewis [Cope] and Katya [Jones], and Alex [Kingston] and JoJo [Radebe].... they're just so amazing. It still brings so much joy to people's lives, that show. Whoever takes over will have the best gig in the world."
However, she didn't seem particularly optimistic about her chances of being named the new host or co-host.
When Jo told her outright "you would do it best", Zoe responded: "I think my ship may have passed but that's okay."
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She added: "The thing is, I often think this about Traitors and those shows: do you wanna work on them over do you wanna watch them? Because they're so good!
"But I think, let [Tess and Claudia] finish their run... Those girls should bow out with such pride. They are so fabulous. And they will be really sorely missed.
"Good luck to the bosses of the BBC because that is a tough decision. But they've got loads of time, haven't they?"
As if she needed to be any more qualified, Zoe also hosted episodes of the main show in 2014 when she covered for Claudia while her child was ill.
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It's no surprise then that, at time of writing, she's one of the favorites with bookies to take on the role. Others speculatively linked to the gig include Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham, current It Takes Two host Janette Manrara, Fleur East, Rylan Clark and Roman Kemp.
For now, Tess and Claudia will continue to front the current series, as well as the annual Christmas special.
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Last week, they posted a joint video on Instagram announcing their departure, captioning it: "We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.
"We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day."
They continued: "We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’ but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza."
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who'll listen.
