Helen Bach Column: Strictly - time to say goodbye?

As Nick Ferrari said on This Morning, it’s one of those tv announcements that you remember where you were when you heard the news – me, I was submitting my Celeb Traitors column with Cat and Ben on in the background, and was trying to concentrate on what I was doing but couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing.

It’s a bit like when Mel and Sue left Bake Off – although I appreciate that Tess and Claud aren’t actually a double act, they just work really well together. Fair play to them for deciding to leave at the same time though, as I don’t think it would have been right for one to go and the other to stay.

What next for Strictly? How will they replace the seemingly irreplaceable? Speaking of Cat Deeley, would she be a good replacement? She is naturally empathetic, can be extremely glitzy and glamorous, but has a strong hint of her Brummie upbringing which makes her accessible and relatable too. Maybe it could be Rylan? Absolutely love his Radio2 show, and the programmes he makes with Rob Rinder are very entertaining.

Or, dare I say it, quietly, because I hope that it’s not the case, and I’m wondering what my Autumn Saturday nights will look like potentially without it – is it time to retire the show completely?

I know, I know, I’m sorry – it’s almost heresy to utter that sentence. But will it be the same without Tess and Claud? And, continue to whisper in case Craig Revel Horwood reads this as he lives locally (love you Craig!), is it as good as it once was?

I mean, I love it, and I watch it religiously, my family, friends and I discuss it and who we think will win – this year my imaginary money is on Vicky Pattinson, with Alex Kingston probably also in the final?

But truthfully some of the sparkle and glitter has rubbed off over the years, and is it better that it goes out on a high – like Tess and Claudia are doing - rather than fades away and becomes a shadow of its former self?