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The glossy raven-black fringe, heavily kohl-lined eyes and orange tan combine to make Claudia Winkleman’s one of the most distinctive faces on British television.
Add to that her undoubted acumen when it comes to making bold moves and it can be no surprise that Winkleman is said to be in advanced talks for the next step in a broadcasting career that has been as dazzling as the Strictly glitter ball.
After the shock announcement this week by Winkleman, 53, and Tess Daly, 56, that they would be quitting as co-hosts of Strictly Come Dancing at the end of the current season, she is now, it is said, poised to land her own chat show.
According to entertainment news site Deadline, the show will be made by So Television, the company behind The Graham Norton Show. Though a deal has not yet been finalised, Deadline reported talks are at “an advanced stage”, with the idea it will broadcast when Norton’s show is off-air.
Sources told the Daily Mail that the BBC considered a prime time chat show as “one of their main priorities”, aiming for a “glitzy super high-end” show, that was “Jonathan Ross-esque” but more “classy” and were prepared to “throw huge sums” to attract the biggest stars. “It’s the perfect job for Claudia,” one said and would catapult her into the stratosphere.
Winkleman, the daughter of former newspaper editor Eve Pollard and her first husband Barry Winkleman, started as a travel writer after graduating from the University of Cambridge with a degree in History of Art, before moving to broadcasting.
She served a long television apprenticeship before becoming one of the BBC’s prime time jewels. Her early CV included appearances on topical regional programme Central Weekend, the BBC series Holiday, stints on ITV’s This Morning and the cable channel Live TV, as well as the BBC Three entertainment news show Liquid News.
“I remember I used to go into Liquid News. It was orientated towards a smart, younger audience, Paddy O’Connell used to be on it. It was a really interesting place for some of the BBC talent, who are now pretty well established and have matured like great wine,” said the PR expert Mark Borkowski.
“And I always thought she was so smart, so on it. That’s part of what she offers at the moment.” Few people can carry live TV well, he added. “But you can see it in her. Whip smart, delivered without any of that barbed cynicism you get from social media.”
Winkleman, who has said of herself “I’m a tiny orange lady and my fringe is too long”, has presented dating shows, the Film programme, Fame Academy, Eurovision selections shows and The Great British Sewing Bee, to name but a few. She initially joined Strictly in 2005 to host companion show Strictly: It Takes Two before moving to the main show in 2014, replacing Bruce Forsyth.
She has three children aged between 12 and 21 with her husband, the film producer Kris Thykier, and has juggled Strictly with the juggernaut that is The Traitors, Channel 4’s The Piano, and, up until last year, a BBC Radio 2 weekend show.
Celebrity Traitors, currently the BBC’s most watched reality TV show, is pulling in approximately 11 million viewers, to the delight of BBC bosses.
“She’s great on Traitors at juggling that tension and the silliness with surgical precision. She’s got this calm that you need in the storm of this type of reality TV. She’s unflappable, witty, super smart and not over-exposed,” said Borkowski.
In a world seemingly flooded with reality TV contestants and influencers, “in this general malaise of mediocrity”, he said, she stands out. “In terms of the unscripted space, she’s an absolute star.”
“She is emblematic, really of where real talent should be aiming for,” Borkowski said, adding that she has cross-generational appeal, particularly to women.
“One crucial thing. She has got an incredible stylist. And in this world of Instagram and visual aesthetics, she has really delivered. The sheen gloss black hair, everything about her look is so on brand and idiosyncratic. It does feel she’s not copying anybody else. There are no precursors to her. She is what she is and that’s very rare.”
He can see her making the transatlantic leap, following James Corden and others who’ve found success in America.
Though reportedly no final handshake has been made on the chat show deal, the BBC are said to hope it will keep her from the clutches of ITV. She has previously filled in for Norton on his show.
Her next move will be crucial, said Borkowski. “Because when you have had two major successes – Strictly and Traitors – the next format is all. Success rides the hamster-wheel of success. So the next move will absolutely be crucial. And I think she can do what she wants really. She’s in the right zone of people who are going to bring the right thing to her, and it’s her choice, really.”
