Emma Willis reveals family’s honest reaction to Strictly role

It may seem as though Emma Willis has already conquered showbusiness, having earned legions of fans as the host of primetime shows including The Voice UK and Big Brother, but even she is feeling nervous as she prepares to present the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.

“There are always lots of nerves and adrenaline before any show, but it’s probably tenfold this time,” she tells HELLO!.

It’s a big year for one of the BBC‘s most popular shows, which said goodbye to previous presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman at the end of 2025. Stepping into their shoes are Emma, 50, and her two co-hosts: The Last Leg’s Josh Widdicombe, 43, and the show’s long-serving professional dancer Johannes Radebe, 39.

The decision to appoint three presenters came as a surprise even to Strictly’s producers, Emma reveals. “They said to us when we went in: ‘We’ve gone a bit rogue, because a trio wasn’t something we’d ever thought of. But seeing what we’ve seen, we wondered if you three might work quite well together.’ And it turns out we did.”

Nerves had already been running high for Emma, who confessed that she “couldn’t get a word out” when she first carried out a screen test for the role. “I read hundreds of scripts all the time, but I could barely speak,” she says.

“I felt like a beginner again. It was actually nice to feel those nerves and to feel that drive. I was diplomatic with myself from the beginning and thought: ‘I’m mega-grateful to be in the mix, but I don’t for one second think I’ll get it, so I won’t overthink it.’”

Being offered the role finally fulfils a dream for the presenter, who had been hoping to compete in the show. “I wanted to do it for a long time,” she says. “Being a contestant has been on my mind for about seven years, but it never worked out.” Diary clashes had prevented audiences from seeing Emma don sequins, but by sheer chance, she was matched with her new co-host, Johannes, in a Strictly dance trial a few years ago.

“I was absolutely gutted because I had always said that if I ever danced, I would want to dance with him,” she says. “But now I get to dance with him in a different way, so it was all meant to be.”

Family support

Despite landing one of the biggest roles on TV, Emma – who has been married to Busted star Matt Willis, 43, since 2008 – didn’t impress all of her family with her exciting career news.

© BAFTA via Getty Images

“Mine were over the moon,” she says of her three children, Isabelle, 17, Ace, 14, and Trixie, ten. “We watch Strictly every week and my kids have grown up with it. One cried, another told me how proud they were and my youngest was slightly gutted because she thought my news was going to be that I was pregnant!

“I had to let her down, but she was happy that I was working on the show.”

Strictly Come Dancing begins on BBC1 at 7.25pm on Saturday 19 September