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‘I’m obviously going to be awful’ – Claudia Winkleman jokes about her new BBC chat show
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The TV presenter reflects on the longevity of her career and the chat show hosts that inspire her, ahead of the launch of The Claudia Winkleman show.
If the first-look teaser trailer for Claudia Winkleman’s new chat show is anything to go by, it’s going to be all of the elements that have become her trademark: quirky, self-deprecating, funny and classy.
A short video released last week (February 27) shows the TV star smearing her face with orange paint (a comedic nod to her fake tan) with her still sporting her trademark long dark fringe and heavily lined eyes.
And by all accounts, she is still coming to grips with being given her own TV show, saying she “can’t quite believe” it.
The Claudia Winkleman Show will see the 54-year-old BAFTA-winning TV presenter having conversations with some of the biggest names from the worlds of film, television, music and beyond.
It’ll be filmed in front of a studio audience and will air every Friday night on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with the first episode of the series on set for March 13, in a later slot of 10.40pm.
Winkleman, best-known for co-presenting Strictly Come Dancing with Tess Daly – which they both stepped down from in 2025 – and hosting The Traitors and The Celebrity Traitors, is ready to face a new and exciting career challenge.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity. I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try,” she says.
“I can’t tell you too much as we sort of don’t know what it is until we’ve done it, but the fantastic team are working really hard behind the scenes – they are brilliant, and we’ve got some great guests lined up who will sit on the green sofa.
“I’m trying to dress like Michael Aspel (the TV presenter and newsreader who fronted This Is Your Life and Crackerjack) with a touch of Michael Caine. I realise this information is not terribly useful.”
So far only the first tranche of guests has been revealed, and will include Wicked and Jurassic Park star Jeff Goldblum, to talk about his new album, Night Blooms, the latest offering from his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.
Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams will also reflect on her run of the West End smash hit, The Devil Wears Prada, and French and Saunders star Jennifer Saunders will talk about her new film, The Magic Faraway Tree, whilst comedian Tom Allen discusses his new book, Common Decency.
But before they join Winkleman on her couch, the host says their dressing rooms and green rooms will be filled with “beer, crisps and some biscuits I’ll have made, which will be both raw and burnt. I can break actual science in the kitchen.”
Winkleman’s TV career though is on a far more solid footing. She’s hosted everything from the BBC Three dating show, Three’s A Crowd, to the BBC One sewing competition, The Great British Sewing Bee, which she hosted for four series.
She has also been a favourite on Channel 4’s music competition show, The Piano, which has been commissioned for a fourth series.
She’ll also be part of the presenting team for the 2026 edition of the Crufts dog show, alongside Clare Balding, Ellie Simmonds and Radzi Chinyanganya.
Speaking about Crufts, she said: “I absolutely love dogs and there is literally nowhere else on earth I’d rather be”, adding: “I have a pocket rammed with treats.”
In December she was made an MBE at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, having been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours alongside her Strictly co-host Daly, with both honoured for services to broadcasting.
She was joined at the ceremony by her mother, author and journalist Eve Pollard, her father, former publisher Barry Winkleman and husband Kris Thykier, a film producer.
Following the ceremony she shared a photograph with the King on Instagram, writing: “An incredible morning and an enormous honour. I’m speechless.”
The Traitors, which she’s hosted since it began on UK screens, has become a ratings winner for the BBC, with its most recent celebrity spin-off finale watched by an average of 11.1 million, with a peak of 12 million viewers.
TV aside, Winkleman also presented BBC Radio 2 shows until 2024, including the comedy quiz series Hot Gossip, the Claudia Winkleman Arts Show and Claudia On Sunday.
Despite her years of experience, she admits taking the reins of her own show still feels “really scary”.
“I think I talked about how to flirt on the sofa for ‘Good Morning with Anne and Nick’ [a daytime show in the Nineties] when I was in my early 20s. It was chronic,” she says.
“I know my job is to make sure the guests have a great time and feel relaxed – I imagine I’ll ask them about their favourite biscuits, and their dog, and people will actually fall asleep. We’ll soon find out how it goes.”
The new show will be produced by So Television, which is part of ITV Studios and the production company behind the multi-award-winning The Graham Norton Show.
In February 2025, Winkleman stood in for TV presenter Graham Norton on his chat show – while he took his An Evening with Graham Norton tour to Australia – and she has also been interviewed by him.
Winkleman’s guest hosting was well received, and viewers praised her ability to put guests at ease, with fans even suggesting she deserved her own show.
It’s why being in a similar slot to him on television makes her nervous and feels like an “enormous honour”, she notes.
“He is the king, the best of the best. He’s incredibly generous and charming and easy to talk to, and that’s why he always has the best guests. To be in the same slot is a total privilege and also completely nerve-racking.”
But she also takes inspiration from a plethora of other chat show hosts.
“I love Graham [Norton] and Jonathan [Ross], I never missed a Chatty Man [Alan Carr], and I am actually in love with (American comedian) Chelsea Handler. But I always have Radio 2 or 4 on and love listening to people ask and answer questions,” says Winkleman.
With the seven-episode show scheduled to start on March 13 – a number famously known to be a prosperous number in some cultures, and an unlucky one in others – the date is a coincidence Winkleman acknowledges.
“All I can tell you is that if I see a single magpie, I salute them and ask them about their husband or wife. I then think the day’s a write-off and try and get back into bed with my eyes closed,” she says.
“Starting on Friday 13th means it’s going to have a freakishly short run.”
The Claudia Winkleman Show comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Friday, March 13
