Claudia Winkleman will host her very own chat show on the BBC launching in 2026, the channel has confirmed.
Earlier this year the 53-year-old announced she’d be stepping down from her role as a host on Strictly Come Dancing alongside Tess Daley.
Now, just weeks after her previous BBC presenting gig ended and she’s been announced for a new one.
Claudia guest-hosted The Graham Norton Show on BBC One when Graham was away – and now So Television, the production company behind the multi award-winning Friday night show, are producing her own.
The Claudia Winkleman Show will be coming to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the spring and promises to welcome huge names from the worlds of TV, film, music and beyond.
Speaking about the news, Claudia said: ‘I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity.
‘I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.’
Back in February when Graham Norton was doing a stand-up comedy tour in Australia, The Traitors presenter had a go in the hosting seat.
When introducing the show, she said: ‘I am so sorry Graham isn’t here.
‘To be honest nobody is more livid than me. That is the horrendous news. The brilliant news is that we have excellent guests.’
She welcomed Chris Pratt, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Toby Jones and Rob Beckett onto the red sofa and went down a storm with viewers, who began asking why she didn’t have her own talk show.
Graham Stuart, Director of So Television and Executive Producer said: ‘Graham Norton has made the Friday night talk show slot a dazzling appointment to view.
‘How can you possibly follow that? By booking a host equally as brilliant. So we have.’
We don’t yet know the time slot that Claudia’s show will fill on the TV schedule.
But, like The Graham Norton Show, there’ll be a sofa seated with celebrities ready to chat and it’ll have a studio audience.
Whether Claudia’s new show will actually rival Graham’s is up for debate.
He’s been getting the best out of his guests with witty repartee and effortless charm since 2007 when the show first began.
In his very first episode, Graham interviewed Kim Cattrall and Elijah Wood – since then he’s chatted to world famous stars including Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, and Olivia Colman.
His legendary show has won six Bafta Television awards and continues to draw in millions of viewers.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC, is confident Claudia will do a fantastic job: ‘She has an extraordinary ability to put people at ease and bring out the very best in them, whether they’re global superstars or members of the audience.
‘It’s very exciting that she will be fronting her very own show on the BBC, and we can’t wait for viewers to join Claudia and her sofa full of stars.’
The Graham Norton Show will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One from 10.30pm on Friday 31 December.
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