Claudia Winkleman says she threatened to quit Strictly Come Dancing in tearful phone call

Presenter didn’t want to miss son’s first day at university

Claudia Winkleman has revealed she once threatened to quit her presenting role on Strictly Come Dancing.

The beloved co-host of the dancing competition told BBC bosses that she would not work on a certain date if it fell on the same day she had planned to take her eldest son to university.

During an interview on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Winkleman said she was determined to be with Jake on his first day as a fresher and help him put up posters because it is “something parents have to go through”.

“I phoned the boss of Strictly quite dramatically and said, through tears, ‘Sarah I love you. I don’t want to leave Strictly and Tess [Daly] and I have agreed we will leave together when they’re done with us, but if the first show is 13 September, I’m out and you’ll have to go with somebody else,’” Winkleman recalled.

“And there was a beat. And she said, ‘Quite dramatic. We don’t start that week.’”

Winkleman and her husband of 21-years, producer Kris Thykier, are parents to Jake, Matilda and Arthur.

She has fronted the show with Daly since 2014, having replaced Bruce Forsyth after he stepped down.