The weekend is off to a brilliant start for Strictly hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, who have both been made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Never one to shy away from emotion, Claudia said she is “incredibly grateful” for the accolade she received for her services to broadcasting.
Speaking about her pleasure at receiving the honour, Claudia said: “It’s a real privilege to work with extraordinarily talented people and I have only got this because of them. So this is for the BBC, the traitors and the faithful, for pianos and for the cha cha.”
On her plans for the ceremony, Claudia said: “I will buy a hat and am taking my mum. I am ridiculously lucky and will celebrate with Tess by doing a paso doble.”
Speaking of fellow receiver Tess, the presenter said of her honour: “This genuinely came as the greatest surprise of my life. I don’t think I’ve come back down to earth yet, I didn’t see it coming, and it almost didn’t happen because the letter went to the wrong address.”
On the postal mishap, Tess continued: “Thank goodness, someone very kind found me. And so by the time I got it, I only had, I think it was two or three days left to accept it. There’s a deadline of acceptance. I can’t imagine not ever wanting to accept such a wonderful award. But of course I did.”
© Rob Parfitt, BBC“It was cutting it fine, because it went to the wrong address first of all, but it ended well. I cried when I opened the letter, because I just I couldn’t believe it,” she added.
“I genuinely couldn’t, and the first thing I wanted to do was tell my dad, because I lost my dad many years ago, and I know how proud my dad would have been, and I would love to have shared that news with him more than anything.”
On how her late father would have received the wonderful news, Tess said: “He would been incredibly proud in a very Northern, humble fashion. Because you’re under strict instructions, of course, not to share the news before it’s made public. But I must admit, I did tell immediate members of my family and swore them to secrecy.”
The news is out now, and we hope both Tess and Claudia are revelling in it!
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s best-known work
As demonstrated by their honours in services to broadcasting, Claudia and Tess both have illustrious, long-standing careers on screen. Tess has hosted Strictly for over 20 years, originally alongside Bruce Forsyth, with the show kicking off in 2004.
Claudia joined Tess on the dancing show in 2014 and is also known as the host of The Traitors, which began in 2023. She also presents on BBC Radio 2 and is at the helm of The Great British Sewing Bee.
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