Opening the clip, Claudia told fans: “Hi, it’s Claud and Tess. There have been some rumblings and we want you to hear this from us.” Tess added: “Yeah, we have news. After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly we have decided the time is right to step aside and pass on the baton.” With Claudia joking about the “very sparkly baton”, Tess reflected on the beginning: “2004 with Brucey – lovely Bruce. That’s over two decades ago… since our children were literally babes in arms and now they’re young adults. We have cherished every second.”

They paid tribute to the team and the audience. Claudia said: “We’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and we just want to thank the Strictly team because Strictly is the people who make it.” Tess agreed: “They are the very best team in television… And the audience as well… we wouldn’t have a show without them.” The pair insisted they’re still “loving this series”, already dreaming about Blackpool and teasing a long-threatened “show dance”, with Claudia quipping she’ll “applaud from the side”.

Alongside the video, they wrote: “We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time… We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’ but we will continue to say it to each other — just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”

In her own statement, Tess called Strictly “more than just a television programme,” saying it had felt “like having a third child, a second family”. She looked back to her first series: “From that very first series, I had the great honour of standing alongside the incomparable Sir Bruce Forsyth. Brucie set the tone for everything that Strictly became: warmth, wit, connection, and pure showbiz magic.” Tess praised “our superbly talented professional dancers, our magnificent judges… and every single member of the Strictly team,” adding: “Thank you for the laughter, the friendship, and the countless memories… This isn’t a goodbye to glitter, sequins, or Saturday night sparkle… but it does feel like the right time to hand over the reins.”

Claudia called the show “the greatest relationship of my career,” recalling starting on It Takes Two in 2004 and laughing that Len Goodman tried to teach her “what a cucaracha is (I still don’t know).” She said: “I’ve always believed it’s best to leave a party before you’re fully ready to go and I know the new hosts will be magnificent.” And to Tess: “I’m so so lucky I got to stand next to you. You’re funny, kind, whip smart and a true friend and I love you.”

With a final nod to fans who’ve welcomed them “from September to Christmas” for two decades, the double exit closes a glitter-dusted chapter — and sets the stage for Strictly’s next era.