Emma Willis vows 'not to engage' with haters as she gears up for Strictly premiere

Emma Willis has said she is ‘ready for the comparisons’ to Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman (Martin Rickett/PA) PA Archive Holly Bishop , Entertainment & Lifestyle Reporter 1 minute ago COMMENTS Emma Willis has said she “won’t engage” with abuse as he gears up to begin her new role as co-host of Strictly Come Dancing .

The BBC dance competition is back this month for its 24th series, the first in its history without longtime host Tess Daly after her departure alongside co-host Claudia Winkleman last year.

Stepping into their hosting shoes are Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe , and dancer Johannes Radebe , who has been a pro on the show for almost a decade.

Willis has vowed to ignore any harsh criticisms, which she is sure will be thrown her way amid the huge Strictly Come Dancing format shakeup.

For use in UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only Undated BBC handout photo of Johannes Radebe, Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe. Issue date: Saturday September 5, 2026. PA “I’m ready for the comparisons. I am ready for the negative opinions that can come with these things. But on the flip side, those things I don’t engage with or read, and there are always positives as well,” she told reporters.

“But at the end of the day, I feel like it’s really simple, right? We work in this industry, and we’ve been given the opportunity to work on a phenomenal show that is really well loved by the public and also by ourselves.”

She admitted that there are fears that come with the huge scale of the job, and that she has questioned if she is “good enough” to step into the iconic presenting role as she battles nerves and doubts.

Josh Widdicombe, Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe will take over as hosts on Strictly PA Media “But I also like all those feelings,” she told The Times.

It is currently unclear which jobs the trio will take on whilst hosting the show, but they have shut down a rumour that they would be mirroring the specific roles of Winkleman and Daly.

“There’s no like for like, so no one’s kind of replacing anybody and at the minute it’s all very kind of open, isn’t it?” said Willis on The Rest Is Entertainment.

“We’re having lots of production days where we go in and we play around and we’re kind of feeling each other out, well, they’re feeling us out really.”

Emma Willis said the group are ‘just going to laugh a lot’ during the show (Jordan Pettitt/PA) PA Archive “It’s not like you’re Tess, you’re Claudia,’ said Widdicombe. “We don’t want it to feel like those roles are divided and different. We want it to feel like a team.”

Widdicome added that while they would not "reinvent the show", they would "be ourselves and our personalities will be there”.

Opening up on accepting the role, he said. “It's like you only get one opportunity at this career. We're incredibly blessed that we've got where we are in our careers, and just why not?”