Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman makes dig at Tory party chaos with Hamza Yassin comment

Presenter joked wildlife presenter Yassin could be the next PM

Claudia Winkleman alluded to the chaos within the UK government on Strictly Come Dancing.

Saturday (22 October) night’s show was a BBC 100 special as part of the channel’s centenary celebrations.

During the episode, the remaining contestants danced to songs and theme tunes inspired by the BBC’s biggest shows of the last 100 years, from Doctor Who to Grange Hill.

Following James Bye’s Foxtrot to the EastEnders theme tune, host Winkleman made a cheeky dig at the last week of chaos within the government that saw Liz Truss resign as prime minister after just 44 days.

“Still to come, Hamza [Yassin] takes on a tricky ballroom dance and if he’s any good at leading, the country’s got a job for him,” she quipped.

Yassin performed a dance to celebrate the BBC’s nature programming and scored 35 points.

With Truss resigning on Thursday (20 October), the Conservative party will find a new leader – and prime minister – in the next few days.

Rishi Sunak is currently the frontrunner, although some sources have suggested that former PM Boris Johnson has the backing of 100 Tory MPs needed to run himself.

Yassin and partner Jowita Przystal (BBC/Guy Levy)

However, this has been called into question, with Sunak supporter Richard Holden reponding to a reporter pointing out that Johnson did not have 100 publicly declared backers by saying: “It’s because they don’t exist.”

You can follow more updates on The Independent’s live blog here.

Elsewhere in the Strictly centenary special, the show kicked off its celebrations with what Winkleman called the series’ “most ambitious group number” ever.

It featured appearances from Huw Edwards and Jeremy Paxman and nods to BBC shows including University Challenge, Masterchef and Antiques Roadshow.

The number included 14 different shows and 35 BBC stars.