Vernon Kay speaks out on Strictly Come Dancing 'issue' as wife Tess Daly divides fans

Vernon Kay has heaped praise on Strictly Come Dancing, following a blunder during last weekend's opening live show. On Saturday, all 15 celebrity couples stepped onto the dance floor to perform their routines in a bid to remain in the competition.

While the programme got off to a good start, trouble struck just before La Voix's performance when a behind-the-scenes mishap occurred.

During this moment, presenter Claudia Winkleman was in conversation with EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal when she attempted to pass back to Tess Daly.

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When it became clear that her co-presenter wasn't prepared for the cameras as planned, Claudia swiftly improvised and started chatting awkwardly with the soap star once more.

Just seconds later, she received the cue to return to Tess.

It was later revealed that La Voix's American Smooth routine to Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club didn't start as planned.

The RuPaul's Drag Race star was supposed to make her entrance descending to the floor on top of a pony, but instead started her dance already positioned on the stage prop.

Speaking about the programme during his live mid-morning BBC Radio 2 programme, in conversation with Sara Cox, Vernon, 51, remarked: "We've done our fair share of live tele, and live tele is really difficult because anything can go wrong at any time.

"And I'm not just saying this because I feel connected to the show, but the one thing that always amazes me about Strictly Come Dancing is, touch wood, it never goes wrong."

Mentioning the mishap, Sara chimed in: "Are you talking about La Voix as well on Saturday night? There was an issue with La Voix's pony, she was supposed to be descended from the ceiling and slowly lowered."

Vernon responded: "Nobody knows until someone says, 'Oh the pony was supposed to go up', nobody would've known any different."

"It was brilliant because Claudia went back to Tess and then she was like, 'Oh not now, hang on a minute, in a minute,' but it was a lovely bit of live tele and they just handled it brilliantly," Sara continued, commending the presenters.

Scott Mills' replacement host also had kind words to say about Vernon's spouse Tess from that evening, although not all viewers shared the thoughts.

Posting on platform X, one demanded Tess be replaced by La Voix as a host for next year's series.

Another agreed: "2026 needs to see La Voix taking over from Tess presenting. I said what I said #Strictly."

Supporting the presenter, a third remarked: "I think Tess Daly gets a really bad rap on #StrictlyComeDancing. I think she's lovely, personable and always puts the contestants at ease. She's a great foil for the judges, especially Craig."

A fourth wrote: "Everyone is always so mean to Tess, please, she's just trying her best."

Vernon Kay's BBC Radio 2 show airs weekdays from 9.30am. Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.20pm on BBC One.