Dan Walker has said his appearance last year on Strictly Come Dancing made him a better TV presenter.
The 45-year-old also hinted his stint on the BBC dance show prompted him to take new chances in his career.
Earlier this week Dan made the shock announcement he was leaving BBC Breakfast after 13 years to join Channel 5.
He spoke about his exit from the morning show to radio host Jeremy Vine, who has also appeared on Strictly.
“I don’t know about you, Jeremy, but I feel that was a brilliant experience for me,” he shared.
“Not only do you get to dance, but you learn a lot about you, you know yourself and you get a great friendship with your professional partner, in my case Nadia.
“I think that has made me a better presenter, so I’m looking forward to putting some of those skills to good use at Channel 5.”
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Dan and dance partner Nadia Bychkova reached the quarter finals of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, finishing in fifth position.
He surprised even himself by making it through eight weeks of the show – despite a public backlash which claimed the BBC presenter was kept in as a “fix”.
As he bowed out before the semi-finals, Dan admitted he was “relieved” to finally be booted off as his body was “giving up on him”.
Speaking at the time, he said: “I know there’s some people that get angry every week that we managed to stay in, but the overwhelming love and the lovely comments have far outweighed all of that.
“I think the right people are in the semi-finals, the best four dancers in the competition. My time had come to an end, there’s no way I could compete.”
Deaf EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis and partner Giovanni Pernice were eventually crowned the winners.
Dan revealed he will join Channel 5 “in the next few weeks” but has so far remained tight-lipped on what kind of show he will be presenting.
Although he has teased it will be more than a breakfast show, which he is excited about.
In a video on Twitter announcing his big news, he said: “This has also been a massive decision for me because I love BBC Breakfast, I love working alongside Sally [Nugent] and I love the team there.
“But Channel 5 came with big ambitions, with big plans and I don't think opportunities like this come around very often and I can't wait.”
He added: “What I love about this deal is I not only get to present the news, but also host a whole range of programmes right across the channel.”
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