Zoe Ball says she would love to present Strictly Come Dancing
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly left at the end of the last series.
TV and radio presenter Zoe Ball has said she would love to present Strictly Come Dancing.
Ball, 55, has been linked with one of the two vacant presenting roles on the BBC dancing programme, after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly left at the end of the last series.
She told the Sunday Times: “Obviously there’s part of me that would love to do it. But I will still be watching, whoever hosts it.”
Ball hosted Strictly’s sister show It Takes Two for 10 series between 2011 and 2020, having appeared as a contestant on the show in series three in 2005, when she finished in third place with her professional partner Ian Waite.
She also stepped in as the main show’s host for a number of weeks in 2014 to replace Winkleman, who had to take time off to look after one of her children.
Ball left her BBC Radio 2 show in December last year and was replaced by Emma Willis.
Speaking about Strictly, she added: “This is the hilarious thing, it’s all anyone talks to me about.
“At the moment I am in mourning for Tess and Claud because I love those girls. I think everyone’s name is being thrown into the mix.
“I love that show. I loved performing on it with Ian Waite, who is one of my best buddies.
“It’s so joyful, and it’s live telly, which is another thing that people don’t give the girls enough credit for. That show is a beast. Whoever gets to do it has a tough act to follow.”
Ball said she had not spoken to the BBC about the role, and none of her friends had either, but added she would like either Rylan Clark or Vernon Kay as her co-host.
The presenter was the first woman to present the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show solo when her co-host Kevin Greening left in 1998.
Ball has also presented Top Of The Pops, from 1996 to 1998, Live And Kicking, from 1996 to 1999, and SMart, from 1994 to 1996.
Last year’s series of Strictly was won by former England Lionesses footballer Karen Carney.
