Strictly Come Dancing pro jumps to the defence of show's new presenters

Strictly Come Dancing professional Lauren Oakley has leapt to the defence of the show's new trio of presenters, Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.

The show's first live episode with the new hosts aired on Saturday, and viewers weren't 100% sold just yet.

Some fans wondered why Josh wasn't in the auditorium, where he could put his comedy chops to use and bounce off the celebrities. Others struggled to hear Johannes over the cheering from the audience, and a few just didn't think the new team worked at all.

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On her Instagram Stories, Oakley wrote: "We couldn't be in safer hands than with these beautiful people.

"Strictly is about family, uplifting others, and creating a safe space for celebrity contestants to be vulnerable and do something so outside of their comfort zone.

"This trio have been so warm and welcoming and they felt like family from the minute they stepped into the studio, and we LOVE having them with us.

"Professional, funny, kind and fantastic at what they do. I couldn't feel more lucky to be sharing the screen and our Saturday nights with them!"

Related: Strictly Come Dancing's Angela Scanlon returns to the BBC with major new role

Saturday's episode of Strictly averaged 4.8 million viewers in its initial broadcast, down from the launch show's 6.2 million average.

This marked the first time since 2019 that the first live show of a season had done worse than a launch show, although it was up against tough competition, with the football match between England and Spain airing at the same time over on ITV1.

The BBC responded to the drop, calling it the most-watched programme of the day, adding that it will continue to do well on iPlayer.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday and Sunday nights on BBC One and iPlayer, while It Takes Two airs on BBC Two and iPlayer on weekday evenings.

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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.