Insiders tell KATIE HIND the truth about Tess Daly's Strictly exit

When Tess Daly was asked to co-host a new prime-time BBC show called Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, she could perhaps never have imagined still being at its helm more than 20 years later.

It is an impressive feat few female presenters have matched and is testament to the fondness viewers have for the former model, whose easy rapport with the late Sir Bruce Forsyth was an early highlight of the show.

Indeed, only Newsnight's Kirsty Wark, Dame Esther Rantzen, who hosted That's Life, and Soccer AM's Helen Chamberlain have come close to such a television milestone. So when rumours began to circulate that her co-presenter Claudia Winkleman could step away from the show after her runaway Traitors success, there was understandable shock when the chatter among industry insiders suggested there could be 'no Tess without Claudia'.

Those harsh whispers, I hear, inevitably found their way to Tess herself. And it meant that, when she and Claudia started discussing a possible exit from the show a year ago, Tess already knew that if Claudia went, she would have to jump ship, too.

'Basically, Tess knew the BBC didn't want her without Claudia, which feels a bit harsh,' says my source. 'Tess dedicated more than two decades to the show, and if she didn't go with her then she would essentially be ditched. It's human nature to want to get ahead, so she decided to go along with Claudia and they began making plans.

'There are really not nice things said about Tess on social media.

'But it's impressive for someone to host a show for as long as she has, especially when it's one of the most watched shows on telly.'

It prompted the two women to record their farewell video, which blindsided the BBC and stunned the programme's millions of viewers. The clip, released on their Instagram accounts last month, revealed they would leave Strictly at the end of the series.

In it, Claudia, 53, said: 'Hi, it's Claud and Tess. There have been some rumblings and we want you to hear this from us.'

Tess, 56, added: 'We have news. After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly, we have decided that the time is right to step aside and pass over the baton.

'I think, genuinely, we have cherished every second.'

That may have been so. But behind the platitudes, there was a firm message to BBC bosses – a signal that this was two women sticking together.

'Claudia is the most loyal friend you could wish for,' said one of the star's associates. 'She will stand by her friends no matter what, and vice versa, so this was the plan they came up with. And there was no way Claudia would ever want Tess to be ridiculed.'

Those who know the women say they may not socialise much, but they have cultivated an authentic friendship despite their very different backgrounds.

Claudia, the daughter of former newspaper editor Eve Pollard and publisher Barry Winkleman, attended the £20,000-a-year City of London School for Girls before studying at Cambridge.

Tess, meanwhile, comes from more humble beginnings in Derbyshire where her parents worked in a textiles factory. While Claudia made her name on TV shows such as Fame Academy and Holiday, Tess's big break came when a modelling scout spotted her outside a McDonald's in Manchester and, when she was 21, she appeared nude in the video for The Beloved's 1993 hit Sweet Harmony. 'I cringe when I'm reminded of the video,' Tess has said. 

While Claudia married a well-heeled PR hotshot-turned-film-producer Kris Thykier, 53, Tess chose Bolton-born former model Vernon Kay. The pair, who have two daughters, met while they were both presenters on children's television and Vernon, 51, now hosts BBC Radio 2's mid-morning show. Though the official line was that they both decided to leave Strictly together, the truth is that mother of three Claudia is now more in demand than Tess.

With her role hosting Traitors (and other shows such as The Piano and The Great British Sewing Bee) proving to be iconic, and ITV bosses sniffing around her, it was only a matter of time before a fresh project caught her eye.

That project is said to be a new chat show, which is being made by Graham Norton's production company and will air next year. Claudia and her team had been keen to keep it a secret – perhaps to save Tess's blushes in case it appeared that Claudia had left her behind.

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But I can reveal that plans are very much under way for the show, which faces the challenge of attracting the starriest names possible in the global world of showbiz. It's perhaps rather fortuitous, then, that Claudia's husband is an extremely well-connected Tinseltown producer. But also up her sleeve is a best friend who is a Hollywood star in her own right – Friends actress Courteney Cox.

The two women are inseparable and, while their friendship isn't connected to work, they are hugely supportive of one another's careers. In fact, Claudia tried to get the former Friends actress on Celebrity Traitors.

'Courteney has been around for ever and knows everyone in LA,' says a source. 'She's also a massive girl's girl and of course she will do all she can to help Claudia and her special new project.'

While Tess is thrilled for Claudia, where does this leave her?

The showbusiness world is willing her to succeed.

Insiders have come forward to tell me how much they hope she will be handed a role that will make her as happy as Strictly did.

She also has several side projects, including a successful swimwear range, Naia Beach, and deals with Marks & Spencer and vitamin firm Vitabiotics. There are reports, too, the BBC will hand Tess a new show.

My Strictly insider says: 'She never thought it would last this long so if you hear you're going to get pushed, you know it's time to go. But Tess is a grafter and a survivor.'