Vernon Kay has given a little bit of insight into what his home life is like before and during Strictly Come Dancing thanks to wife Tess Daly. The presenter is currently gearing up for the 20th series of BBC One dance contest.
The sparkly, toe-tapping TV favourite is set to burst back onto screens on Saturday, September 17, with the launch show in which viewers will see the celebrities find out their professional partners for the first time. Former Corrie stars Kym Marsh and Will Mellor, EastEnders actor James Bye, Hits Radio host Fleur East and Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton are among the stars lining up to take part.
Tess, who has hosted the show since the very start in 2004, will be back at the helm of the show later this month alongside Claudia Winkleman. And according to her husband, she will be on-screens for a long while yet.
Bolton-born Vernon has said that Tess will keep dancing until she’s well into her eighties — just like late Strictly legend Bruce Forsyth who hosted the show with her until he was 86. Asked by The Sun if Tess, 53, will stick around as long as Bruce, he laughs: “Yes I think so."
He was also full of praise for her TV partnership with Claudia who took over when the veteran TV host left in 2014. Vernon, 48, said: "Strictly was probably one of the first shows to embrace two women as the main anchors of a huge Saturday night entertainment show. We’ve seen Ant and Dec for decades double-heading a show and I don’t think two women had done that before on such a large scale.
"As far as prime-time entertainment shows go, Claudia and Tess really broke the mould. I think that’s something that both of them are really proud of — and long may it continue."
And Tess really does take her job on Strictly seriously as Vernon revealed how she preps for the each new series at home. "Tess studies. She does all her homework on the contestants," the presenter said of his wife of 19 years. "We’ve got biogs dotted around the kitchen at the moment, which is great."
But luckily for Tess, the family appear to love Strictly as much as she does. "It’s like our third child," Vernon, who shares Phoebe, 17, and Amber, 13, with Tess, told the publication. "Tess started the show in its infancy — its first ever series when it was just a wee baby. Then we had our first baby and subsequently, we had Amber, so we’ve grown up with it as like a family member."
In good news for fans of the dance show, after a two-year break, the competition will once again cha cha cha its way back to the Blackpool Tower ballroom. Anto Du Beke is also returning to the judging panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and head judge Shirley Ballas after Bruno Tonioli officially stepped down from his role.
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