Tess Daly breaks down in emotional Strictly exit speech

Strictly Come Dancing's long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman became emotional during tonight's final as they filmed their last live show as the BBC hit's presenters

Strictly Come Dancing's Tess Daly and Anton Du Beke broke down in tears as they filmed their final live show. The presenter announced earlier this year that she and co-host Claudia Winkleman were leaving the BBC series.

After Karen Carney and Carlos Gu danced the final dance of the series, Tess spoke to the judges for the last time. As she did, Anton emotionally said goodbye to Tess, who he has been on the show with since the start. "I can't tell you how much I have loved, Tess, spending the last 21 years with you."

As Anton started to cry, Tess was supported by Karen and Carlos. The pair hugged her as she teared up to and thanked Anton. Craig also started to say goodbye to Tess, telling her they would "miss you like you would not believe."

The duo took fans by surprise back in October when they suddenly announced their Strictly exit in an Instagram post. Tess has been a presenter on the show for 21 years, while Claudia joined in 2014 after hosting its sister show It Takes Two.

Later in the show, the producers aired a reel of fans and crew saying goodbye to Tess and Claudia. Cutting back to the pair, Tess was in tears as she held on to her presenting duo. "We didn't know that was going to happen," said an emotional Claudia.

The pair then started to say their own goodbye until they were interrupted by Craig. The judge stopped their speech to read out a letter from a "Strictly superfan". As he read the words, which paid tribute to the trailblazing duo, they teared up even more - especially when they learned the letter was written by Queen Camilla.

In a joint statement, they said: "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 have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show."

Elsewhere on the show, Claudia was left screaming as she was surprised with a touching tribute. The dancers all dressed up as her when she opened the vote for the last time. She laughed and shouted "No way!" when she noticed that judge Craig had done it too.

Fans were equally emotional to say goodbye to Tess and Claudia. One said: "Can we just show our appreciation to Tess & Claudia for their fabulous contribution to Strictly over the years! The show is a tad bitter sweet tonight, knowing we are saying goodbye to these two fabulous hosts. We love you and will miss you!"

Another added: "Strictly final with added emotion this year for Tess and Claudia's final live show together.. watch the amazing performance...then suddenly comments mention and highlights the departure of the stand out hosts."

Since the duo revealed their plans to leave, fans have been speculating over who could replace them - with many hoping that This Morning's Alison Hammond would take the show on. However, the ex Big Brother star is reportedly very happy at This Morning and won't quit the ITV show to join Strictly.

The likes of Bradley Walsh, Alex Jones and Alan Carr are also rumoured to be replacing Tess and Claudia. Last month, BBC boss Kate Phillips revealed that finding new presenters had been put on hold for the time being.

Speaking on The Rest is Entertainment podcast, Kate said that Tess and Claudia's exit was "very much" their decision and that they rang her before making the announcement. "They were worried it was going to leak which we often have, so they wanted to announce it on their own terms," she said.

"They are brilliant, brilliant hosts of that show and they have sparkly high heels that are going to be hard to fill definitely. In terms of the process next, the production team, BBC Studios and Sarah James [Executive Producer] and her team, they are concentrating on getting two shows out a week so we haven't got time at the moment to start doing any screen tests or chemistry testing.

"We've got time so I don't think we'll really be looking at it until the New Year because we want to make sure we deliver a great Strictly series. Having said that, yes - my inbox has been inundated."

She added: "I can't say names obviously but it is one of the best gigs in television so we have had so many people who are keen to be considered which is great. We'll think carefully about next steps on it but yes, there's no room where we all go."

During the live final, a photo of Tess and Claudia backstage was uploaded to her Instagram account. She captioned the post: "You better believe we’re gonna keep dancing."

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