Josh Widdicombe has brushed off criticism of his Strictly Come Dancing presenting debut with a characteristically understated reaction.
The 43-year-old comedian addressed the backlash on his Parenting Hell podcast alongside co-host Rob Beckett.
Mr Beckett kicked off the discussion with an enthusiastic endorsement: “I thought it was amazing!”
Mr Widdicombe responded simply: “Thank you for being so kind. Thank you everyone for being so kind, genuinely.”
Josh Widdicombe made his Strictly presenting debut on Saturday night | BBC
The pair then turned to a comment left beneath a supportive Instagram post Mr Beckett had shared.
Mr Widdicombe recounted: “You put up a lovely Instagram. Someone put like, ‘Did anyone find that everyone was just too happy on it?’ It’s Strictly!”
Mr Beckett fired back: “They said ‘It felt it was a bit too OTT and everyone was too happy like they were being paid to dance’. I’m like, ‘That’s exactly what’s happened’. I thought it was brilliant Josh, you should be really proud.”
The reaction from former Strictly professionals has been rather more pointed.
Vincent Simone, speaking to the Mirror, described Widdicombe as a “lost lamb” during Saturday’s launch, though he suggested nerves may have been to blame.
Saturday’s Strictly launch the new debut of the three new presenters, Johannes Radebe, Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe | BBC
Mr Simone was far more complimentary about Johannes Radebe, who joined Widdicombe and Emma Willis as the trio replacing Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
He said: “Johannes surprised me in a good way. I thought he was going to be all flamboyant, running around, talking about himself.”
Fellow former professional Brendan Cole echoed the praise for Mr Radebe but expressed a longing for a different style of presenter altogether.
Mr Cole said he had wanted “the old-school class of the likes of Brucey,” someone who “absolutely knows showbiz like the back of their hand.”
Ms Willis, meanwhile, has acknowledged that scrutiny was inevitable given the weight of expectation surrounding the presenting shake-up.
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped down as Strictly Come Dancing presenters after more than two decades hosting the BBC series
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GETTYShe said: “I’m ready for the comparisons. I am ready for the negative opinions that can come with these things. Those things I don’t engage with or read, and there are always positives as well.”
Simone recognised that Willis would have felt the pressure too, calling her “professional as always” whilst noting: “There’s a huge amount of pressure on their shoulders to hold a show together which is essentially new but old.”
Widdicombe himself admitted to considerable anxiety ahead of the launch during an appearance on The One Show.
He said: “It’s nerve-wracking because it feels like we’ve been waiting for so long to do this. I’ve been living in a ball of fear.”
Josh Widdicombe has brushed off criticism of his Strictly Come Dancing presenting debut
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Audience opinion on the new presenting lineup has been split. On social media, one viewer wrote: “I know it’s only the first few minutes, but I just cannot gel to there being three hosts.”
Others were more receptive, with one fan posting that Emma, Johannes and Josh “really do work together” and felt “natural already.”
Judge Craig Revel-Horwood offered a decisive verdict in favour of the change, describing the new trio as “fabulous.”
Ms Daly had been at the helm since Strictly’s launch in 2004, with Ms Winkleman joining her over a decade ago — making the transition one of the most significant in the programme’s history.
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