Archive December 15, 2025

Amanda Holden and Alan Carr are among those rumoured to be taking part in a “chemistry day” to potentially replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing

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Amanda Holden has spoken out about speculation linking her and Alan Carr to the new Strictly Come Dancing presenting roles. Following Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s departure announcement in October after 14 years on-screen together, numerous celebrities have been named as potential replacements.

Amanda and Alan, who currently front a popular BBC travel programme alongside their individual commitments, are among those being discussed. Last weekend, The Sun reported that the pair would take part in a “chemistry testing” session, where bosses will observe potential successors for the hosting roles.

“Replacing Claudia and Tess is a mammoth task, but the BBC have whittled down the talent to ten people,” an insider told the newspaper.

“As well as Bradley [Walsh], Alex [Jones] and Alan, Rylan Clark, Rob Rinder, Zoe Ball and Holly Willoughby will be at the chemistry day.

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“Amanda Holden, Alison Hammond and Angela Scanlon have made the cut too. They will go to a studio and be put into different pairs to see who works together best,” the source added.

However, speaking on her Heart Radio Breakfast Show with Jamie Theakston on Monday morning, Amanda dismissed the claims.

When questioned about the report by the show’s entertainment correspondent Ashley Roberts, the 54-year-old stated: “There’s lots of people in the mix and there’s a huge picture of me and Alan saying we’re doing chemistry tests and this and that, and auditioning.

“I want to say now that me and Alan are 100 per cent not doing Strictly. We are so flattered to be in that mix, we love Strictly, we watch Strictly, obviously we work for the BBC with the Amanda and Alan Show.

“But, we are not doing it, we are both not doing it. I do Britain’s Got Talent and take up a lot of weekends with that. Alan’s career has just blown up, even more because of The Traitors, so yes, take our names off the list because we’re not doing it.”

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When Jamie double-checked whether she was certain, she confirmed: “100 per cent,” before laughing: “Who are we doing a chemistry test with? We’re past that, but good luck to anyone in the mix.”

Alan has also recently addressed speculation about replacing Tess or Claudia as host, telling the Daily Mail: “I know my name’s been bandied about. It’s nice to be in the running, but no one approached me. It’s such big shoes to fill, and everyone loves it.”

Angela Scanlon is another famous face who has been linked to the hosting gig.

Speaking with The Metro, the former contestant was quizzed about Richard Osman backing her for the presenting position.

“Richard is amazing and to be uttered in the same breath as Tess and Claudia, who I admire so much? It’s phenomenal,” she shared.

It is coming up to almost two years since the King revealed he had received a cancer diagnosis – but it seems Queen Camilla was unsure about him making it so public

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The King brought early Christmas cheer when he revealed the “good news” that his cancer treatment was being reduced. In a candid personal address broadcast on Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer, Charles revealed it was down to early diagnosis, successful care and following “doctors’ orders”.

And he also used the message to urge people to to seek information about cancer screenings available to them to aid early detection. It comes as the King has won praise for speaking out about his cancer journey and highlighting the importance of checks. However, it seems his wife Queen Camilla was initially sceptical about him speaking out about his diagnosis.

READ MORE: Kate Middleton’s moving note revealed after emotional surprise cancer outingREAD MORE: Disgraced Andrew’s ‘ramshackle home revealed’ as items moved from Royal Lodge

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According to the Sunday Times, when Charles received his diagnosis, she intially believed it should remain private, fearing how public scrutiny could affect his recovery. But after seeing the huge numbers seeking out information on checks and screenings, she reportedly thinks her husband’s decision for “openness and transparency” is the right one.

A source close to the couple said: “Both of them now unequivocally think that being so open has been hugely positive — positive for public engagement with raising awareness around cancer and also personally for him in terms of how public good has come from personal misfortune.”

The King has been receiving weekly cancer treatment since his diagnosis, but this is to be reduced in the New Year. He revealed in his message on Channel 4: “Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives. Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.

“Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders’, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year.

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“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty per cent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”

Charles, who wore a Stand Up To Cancer lapel pin, also spoke from his own experience of feeling overwhelmed when receiving a cancer diagnosis, but used his address to stress the importance of early detection, saying it’s ‘troubling’ people aren’t taking up cancer screening available to them.

He explained: “Throughout my own cancer journey, I have been profoundly moved by what I can only call the ‘community of care’ that surrounds every cancer patient – the specialists, the nurses, researchers and volunteers who work tirelessly to save and improve lives.

But I have also learned something that troubles me deeply – at least nine million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them. That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.”

He added: “Yet too often, I am told, people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable. If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.

“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told they don’t need further tests, or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”

This year’s Stand Up To Cancer campaign coincides with the launch of a new national screening tool, screeningchecker.co.uk, which, for the first time, enables the public to determine what cancer screening programmes may be available to them.

Former Gladiators star Sharron Davies, who played Amazon in the 1990s, is known for her campaigning on women’s sports

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Gladiators made its comeback on the BBC in 2024 and the triumphant reboot is now in its third series, which is scheduled to broadcast in January 2026. In April 2025, it was revealed the programme would launch a new live arena tour.

Given the show’s popularity, viewers have been reminiscing about the original lineup, with Sharron Davies joining as Amazon in 1995.

With sport and fitness being her primary focus, she established an online fitness platform, Sharron Davies Training, in January 2022.

Now aged 63, the former competitive swimmer has spoken candidly about missing out on a gold medal in Moscow in 1980. She has also featured on Question Time sharing her perspective on transgender rights and has opened up about financial difficulties.

She came second to an East German rival, Petra Schneider, whose triumph was performance-enhanced through drugs, and she has restated her firm stance on ‘doping’, reports the Express.

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Unfair Play: The Battle For Women’s Sport is the name of her 2023 publication which outlines her beliefs on how women in sport remain disadvantaged.

Apart from releasing her book, the celebrity has voiced her opinions regarding the involvement of trans women in female sporting events.

Earlier in 2025, she featured on Good Morning Britain, revealing she and sailor Tracy Edwards had established a “women’s sports union” aimed at maintaining the separation of transgender athletes from female sports at grassroots and youth levels. She’s also recognised for her political activism, having publicly endorsed Conservative Party politician Kemi Badenoch in 2022.

Now the party leader, Badenoch nominated Davies for a peerage in honour of her sporting accomplishments and advocacy for women’s rights.

In terms of her personal life, she has been married thrice between 1987 and 2009. Her first marriage was to gym manager John Crisp, but they divorced four years later in 1991.

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The subsequent year, she met Olympic athlete Derek Redmond, and they tied the knot in 1994, welcoming two children together.

Her third marriage was to Tony Kingston, a British Airways pilot, in 2002. The couple had been trying to conceive for four years and had undergone eight rounds of IVF treatment before successfully conceiving.

During a Sport Relief event in Devon, she shared: “We’re very optimistic and happy but we’re cautious, too, because of what we have been through.

“Giving birth at 44 doesn’t worry me. So many women go through this as they leave it later to have babies.”

Her third child was born in January 2007, and she separated from her husband after seven years of wedded bliss in 2009.