Claudia Winkleman to launch her own chat show in 2026

The BBC has confirmed that former Strictly Come Dancing host and The Traitors frontwoman Claudia Winkleman will front her own chat show called The Claudia Winkleman Show in the new year.

The series will launch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in spring 2026, and we can’t help but think – didn’t she just leave Strictly? Is this the real reason Claud hung up her dancing shoes once and for all?

The exciting announcement comes just days after Claudia appeared on Strictly alongside co-host Tess Daly in the 2025 series finale for the last time.

Produced by So Television, the company behind The Graham Norton Show, the format will feature Claudia interviewing top stars from film, TV, music, and more, with a live studio audience for lively discussions.

Claudia Winkleman said, ‘I can’t quite believe it, and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity. I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.

On 23 October, Claudia and Tess shared a joint Instagram statement announcing their Strictly departure, stunning fans of the hit BBC show.

In a joint statement, they said, “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. We will cry when we say the last “keep dancing”, but we will continue to say it to each other”, they went on. “Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza. Tess & Claud”.

Tess first partnered with Sir Bruce Forsyth in 2004, taking over fully when he departed in 2014; Claudia joined as co-host soon after. Together, they’ve become Strictly’s iconic duo, offering support, wisdom, and sparkle to contestants.

Claudia returns even sooner with The Traitors’ new series, airing from 8pm on New Year’s Day 2026.