CLAUDIA Winkleman has revealed the real reason she left Strictly Come Dancing – and insisted it wasn’t because of the various scandals that dogged the show.
The TV presenter was a long-standing host on the beloved BBC dance show before quitting with co-star Tess Daly late last October.
Around the time she announced she was leaving the BBC One dance contest was still dogged by the controversy over Giovanni Pernice’s bullying investigation, Wynnegate and Graziano Di prima being fired for assaulting partner Zara Mcdermott.
But Claudia was clear that wasn’t why she and her co-host decided to quit.
“Absolutely not, it is a genuinely beautiful show to be part of,” she told the Mail’s Weekend Magazine.
“Almost every single person who’s taken part is happy they did. so, no it wasn’t that.
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“The show deserves new. We wanted to leave when we were on an absolute high.”
Claudia also confirmed reports they’d taken the decision to leave about a year before they announced it.
On the night they made their final Strictly recording she revealed how emotional it was, saying: “My husband and children were there. So were Tess’s.
“We did our last piece to camera, then I went to my husband and sobbed. Really, really cried.
“It was 20 years of my life, I know it was the right time. I will always be friendly with the team, we are going out for dinner in a couple of weeks. It was emotional.”
Asked why she cried so much she replied: “Just the end. It felt momentous.”