The BBC will be deciding on the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing ‘today’, according to new reports.
Bosses are scrambling to find replacements for Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman after they quit the show last year.
After a week of ‘secret auditions’ and a number of high-profile names reported to take over, a decision will finally be made this week.
A source said: ‘Yesterday was the final day of screen tests, so bosses have tried out lots of different combinations of hosts together and today they are sitting down to make the decision.
‘They want it done and dusted this week. The announcement may not come for a few more weeks, because obviously contracts will need to be signed but the powers that be will be naming who they want in closed door meetings as we speak.
‘It’s all very exciting. This has been speculated about for months, so for the producers to be making their final decision feels monumental.
Bosses are scrambling to find replacements for Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman ‘today’ after they quit the show last year
‘They really didn’t want to get this wrong, which is why it’s been such a long, drawn-out process. Everyone who has auditioned and been invited for screen tests is on tenterhooks, they just want to know now,’ the insider added to The Sun.
The Daily Mail has contacted the BBC for comment.
The names that have been doing the rounds are Zoe Ball, Rylan Clark, Alex Jones, Fleur East, Emma Willis, Bradley Walsh and Angela Scanlon.
Meanwhile, big names like Alison Hammond, Alan Carr and Amanda Holden have taken themselves out of the race.
Alison turned down the cha-cha-challenge of presenting Strictly Come Dancing, saying she is already too busy.
She said: ‘I have, actually [been approached]. You didn’t expect that answer, did you? I can’t lie, I’m incapable.
‘I’m so busy, babes, that I’m not sure it’s going to happen. It’s unrealistic. I’m so happy they considered me but, like Traitors, I can’t do it because everything clashes.’
Speaking to Radio Times, she added: ‘I would have loved to have done it – anybody that gets it, they’re going to land the perfect job. But I’m so happy with everything I’ve got. What would I drop to do Strictly?’
Alison is no stranger to the Strictly ballroom, having competed on the show in 2014 alongside Aljaz Skorjanec, 36, finishing tenth.
The rumours come as the programme also undergoes a dramatic overhaul behind the scenes.
Last month, five professional dancers – including Karen Hauer, 44, Nadiya Bychkova, 36, and Gorka Marquez, 35 – were dropped from the series in what has been described as a ‘bloodbath’ as BBC bosses attempt to refresh the show.
Alison Hammond has turned down the cha-cha-challenge of presenting Strictly Come Dancing, saying she is already too busy
It comes after sources claimed that Strictly bosses judge some pros’ following on TikTok when decided which stars would be axed in the show’s mass cull.
Sources said that bosses have chosen to keep pros with a bigger online following in a desperate bid to draw in younger viewers.
Now it’s been claimed those with bigger online followings have been chosen over dancers who are not so TikTok-friendly.
One example appears to be axed Nadiya Bychkova who boasts 19,000 followers, while Dianne Buswell, also 36, with 966,000 followers has kept her place in the line-up.
Karen, who was Strictly’s longest-serving female dancer, is a similar story with her 9,000 followers while safe newcomer Alexis has a whopping 190,000.
