New Strictly Hosts & New Celebrity Traitors

The Rest Is Entertainment

The episode examines the evolving landscape of British television, specifically focusing on the new hosting lineup for Strictly Come Dancing

Key takeaways

• The new Strictly Come Dancing hosting trio consists of Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe, and Johannes Radeby.
• The hosts dismiss tabloid reports of a 'Strictly crisis' as unnutritious journalism designed for social media engagement.

Main topics

• Strictly Come Dancing presenting changes
• BBC comedy censorship and complaints

Notable quotes

It is done purely to drive headline engagement.

Conclusion

A thoughtful critique of how legacy broadcasting must navigate the ten

Transcript preview

Speaker 6 (0:00) The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now, entertainment loves keeping business in the family. Speaker 1 (0:07) Yeah, it's no secret that that's traditionally been an easier route, perhaps, into show business. It's not necessarily the only way to get into the business. However, there are lots and lots of examples where it really has worked for people. Speaker 6 (0:19) The Coppola's stretched out beyond film into music. Nicolas Cage, though, changed his surname from Coppola. He's Francis Ford Coppola's nephew, and he changed his surname just so that he could... you know, just be Nicolas Cage. Speaker 1 (0:31) But one assumes that in LA they didn't know that he was a Coppola. He Speaker 6 (0:35) stands alone for me. Speaker 1 (0:36) I always think Stenner's Glass Guard is an interesting one because lots of his children... became very, very famous. And he always calls himself a nepo dad, because as his children got more and more famous, people started coming to him more for roles. That's a nice way around. Speaker 6 (0:49) So entertainment has some remarkable family machinery, but however useful the surname, it isn't always the only way in. Speaker 1 (0:55) No, Octopus Energy, for example, didn't inherit its place in the energy industry. It's proudly independent. And one way it does things differently is having each customer's account looked after by the same small team of around 10 energy specialists. They know exactly who you are. Speaker 6 (1:15) Hello and welcome to this episode of The Rest Is Entertainment with me Marina Hyde. Speaker 1 (1:20) And me Richard Osman. Hello everyone. Hi Marina. How Speaker 6 (1:23) are you Richard other than extremely jet lagged? Speaker 1 (1:25) Yes, I've been on my US book tour this week but I landed yesterday and I'm ready to go. I Speaker 6 (1:33) love that thing that you did in Dallas. Speaker 1 (1:36) I went to Dealey Plaza to see where Kennedy was shot and while I did it I was listening to The Rest Is History's podcast about that day it was so moving yeah Speaker 6 (1:46) so Speaker 1 (1:46) it's very it's a very you kind of recognize the place and i'm on the you're on the grassy knoll and you can see the book depository and there's a little just a tiny little x on the road where where he was shot and i was listening to tom and dominic um do this stuff yeah it's really it was very very very moving but um it was uh yeah yeah it was it was a testament to the podcaster's art yeah uh i'll say that so so thank you to the gents, how's your week been? You've been on a book tour as well. Also book tour. Yeah. Speaker 6 (2:15) Also book tour, more book tour coming. And yeah, it's, I really, I tell you what, there has been a lot of love for the podcast. So I really like meeting all the audiences and there's been a lot of love for the podcast. One thing that I have noticed is that the first mention of Celebrity Traitors, there is like a sort of tremor through the audience. We are going to talk about celebrity traitors later today. I mean, it's like we need this show. It's really interesting. People are, you feel something in the energy. It's really interesting. So we're definitely going to be talking about that. Speaker 1 (2:48) We are, yeah, because that launches this week. So we'll be giving you our preview. We're going to be predicting who's going to win. And I'm going to be, well, you can do it as well. But I want to say who I would choose as traitors if I was the producer. Well, also, it's a BBC special, really. So we're going to talk about strictly what happens when you launch a big show with... new hosts and essentially what will the producers be doing on the Monday morning after a launch show. Speaker 6 (3:10) And we're also going to talk about incidents of cuts or censorship or remonstration after the complaints unit came down on a joke that Catherine Ryan made last year. about Victoria Beckham on Have I Got News For You? And some Mitchell & Webb sketches have been taken off iPlayer because they no longer fit with our times. Or do they? Anyway, we will discuss this. Should we start with Strictly? Speaker 1 (3:39) Yeah, let's start with Strictly. So we've had the launcher already, but this was the first show where people were actually dancing. The first show where you really see Emma Willis, Josh Riddickham and Johannes Radeby being the new hosts. Spoiler alert to people who don't like it when you have new hosts or if you've changed anything at all about your show. Speaker 6 (3:58) It's interesting. Looking at the rating, I thought, okay, let's just see what we do know. We know about the ratings. Last week, the launch show, which began with that incredible one shot, was ridiculous. That got 5.8. This week got much less, but you're up against... The England game. It Speaker 1 (4:17) was up Speaker 6 (4:17) against the football, yeah. You're up against England versus not a rubbish international opponent. And you're also in that two and a half hour period of the show that is extremely long. In a Speaker 1 (4:27) way, if I was the producer, I'd be delighted I was up against the England game. So would I. Because you know the ratings that go up next week. Yeah, you've got Speaker 6 (4:33) cover. Speaker 1 (4:33) Because you won't be up against something that gets four million, four and a Speaker 3 (4:36) half Speaker 1 (4:36) million on the other side next week. Speaker 6 (4:39) So the changes are, I mean... I find it quite difficult to understand the degree to which there is some form of backlash or not. And we can get into that. The changes are things like the way the dancers were revealed. They did a video showing them all signing up. And you can see why they've done that because it gives you clips for socials and this is what they're trying to do. Obviously, people want familiarity. And if you don't think there was a massive backlash when Bruce Forsyth left. There was one. I know. And then it settles into this thing where this is the only version of the show that can possibly be tolerated. Speaker 1 (5:12) Yeah. So Speaker 6 (5:13) the way the presenting duties divide, it was interesting because at the start, everyone said when the new hosts were unveiled, oh, I see, Emma will be like Tess down in the ballroom. Josh will be in the Claudatorium doing the, you know, funny interviews afterwards. And Johannes will be a roving reporter. Now, when you did your interview with them, They corrected that. And what they did actually say was, oh, we're going to be quite fluid, actually. Speaker 1 (5:41) Yeah, Josh described it as total football. Yeah. Everyone doing everything. Speaker 6 (5:44) Yeah, well, I think there might be tweaks to it. Because at the moment, what happens, if you haven't seen the show, but you kind of maybe know the format, down in the ballroom is Josh and Emma. Yeah. Two-hander. Yeah. And Johannes is up in the doing the interviews once they run up the stairs and kind of have the diffusing moment. I have to say, I think that I would not have added another person. We've talked before about the unbelievable technical challenge. of that little bit where people think it's so easy, which is so much harder than hosting general election conferences I've mentioned before. The bit that Emma has to do when you've got two exhausted people come off from doing their dance, they have to sort of get their breath back. You have to have a bit of chit-chat with the judges. Then the judges have to do their judging. I felt adding Josh in to do some jokes as well, it's quite complicated down there. Speaker 1 (6:39) I think that... And they've gone with three people, and I absolutely see why they've gone with three people. It makes a lot of sense to do that. The one thing I know for a fact is that's the first time the producers will really understand what it is that they have to do. So whatever Twitter and all this stuff say. And by the way, I think it's funny, even by the end of the show, they're going, oh, no, actually, it's okay. After the first 20 minutes, they go, oh, I'll never watch this again. And in the end, they're going, oh, no, I guess it's okay. As I say, when you're a producer and you just launch that show, and it's a huge deal to have new hosts on a big show like that. The show is Speaker 6 (7:17) so enormous. They started again with that sort of, it felt a bit like a one, but it wasn't, but backstage. Yeah, it was very Speaker 1 (7:23) cool. Speaker 6 (7:23) Unbelievable. And you realise just the scale of the production going all the way through all the backstage corridors and everything. I mean, it is an unbelievable technical masterpiece every week. Speaker 1 (7:33) But I can't stress too much that however many pilots you've done and launch shows and run-throughs and stuff. The producers are watching that more carefully than viewers are watching it. The producers know. And by the way, the hosts are watching it more carefully than viewers are watching it because you know you don't get it completely right the first time. And they know they've got three very different bits of talent there, all of whom can do slightly different things, all of whom will want to do slightly different things as well. And you watch the first one and you go, okay, I see what works, what doesn't work. Yeah, I think that the Johannes thing is interesting because... At the moment, he's doing exactly what Claudia did, which is he throw to Johannes. The producers have given him two talking points. Like, oh, here was the thing from the VT. Here's the thing that the judges just said. Just raise those two things with the celebrity and their dancer. But Speaker 6 (8:24) the manner is very different. Speaker 1 (8:26) Well, that's the thing. Because the reason that it became that is that's the thing that Claudia is incredibly good at, which is, honestly, give me a couple of bits of vanilla content. God bless you, this vanilla content saying, oh, and I hear you call your arm something when you're, you know, it's always been that. It's always nothing. And Claudia is very, very good at turning that into something. That's what Claudia could do. Now, that's not what Johannes can do. It's not who he is. He's a trained dancer. He brings something else. So you have to work out what it is that Johannes does instead. At the moment, they're doing, you do exactly what Claudia did. We'll feed you these two bits of vanilla information. You talk to the... dancer and the celebrity and then we'll you throw it back to Emma and Josh but Janice can't do anything with that there's no he hasn't got anything so you go oh this is just two bits of vanilla information yeah Speaker 6 (9:16) and it's very it feels very reverential and very it doesn't diffuse the tension in the way that Claude having a laugh with Claudia used to get rid of the you know, sting of the judges or whatever it is. And Speaker 1 (9:28) it doesn't become more than the sum of its parts. No. Which is what you want. So they'll know that no one watching that will have thought anything other than that. No producers watching that thinking, I think we've absolutely nailed it there. Okay. They'll work out. And also then you sit down with Johannes and go, what is it that you are? I mean, you're technically, you're an incredible dancer. You've been there before. So you have that kind of ex-player. vibe as well. So there's different stuff that you can do. The two-hander between Josh and Emma, again, it's tricky because there is a history on that show of that being written for. And writing for two people, one of whom is a comic and one who is not a comic, is sort of impossible. You know, that is sort of impossible. Now, when you're a producer, when you're making that show, you've got a billion different things to think about. So the first thing you do is... OK, we'll put Jojo up there. We'll do what we used to do with Claudia. We'll put Josh and Emma down there. We'll do what we used to do with Tess. Right. I think probably that's not going to work going forward. Because it was completely Speaker 6 (10:27) assumed that Josh would be up there. Yeah. By everybody. Yeah, Speaker 1 (10:31) exactly. And it sort of makes sense. Did Speaker 6 (10:33) they try and do something really counterintuitive? Yeah, Speaker 1 (10:35) you try and do something counterintuitive as well. And also you think, well, Jojo could go backstage because actually we don't have a lot of that candid. and it would also make great extra content. And maybe those VTs could be 30 seconds shorter. I don't know. But I've always thought that. So it's absolutely one of those things of the one thing I'll tell you for a fact that no one's paying any attention to is Twitter. That's a really interesting thing. So I went on Twitter just almost as a nostalgia kind of thing to see what they were saying about it. And you could just work out exactly what they're saying, which is... I mean, everyone's saying, well, I'm never going to watch again. That's it for me. And strictly, I'm afraid I'm never going to watch again. I miss Claudia. There's Speaker 6 (11:18) a Speaker 1 (11:18) very small Speaker 6 (11:19) self-selecting group of people on that platform who are sort of effectively live tweeting it. Yes. Some of them are saying that. Speaker 1 (11:26) Yes. And then some of the male are sort of saying, Speaker 6 (11:28) viewers Speaker 1 (11:29) turn against strictly anything. So the thing I wanted to talk about is what it actually is to be like the producer on Monday morning. And the one thing I will say to you is. No one is paying any attention to that because they know exactly what they have. And they'll just find the way of just tweaking it slightly to show that on screen. But no one is going to be looking at any social media and going, oh, my God, what are we going to do? This is a crisis because it definitively is not. Speaker 6 (11:56) It is done purely to drive headline engagement. And I really find, you know, if you look at the outlets, all the reach titles, I don't know, Express, Mail. I find, to be honest, I find these kind of genuinely pathetic stories. And by the way, the people who have to write them privately will tell you that they hate doing this sort of thing. Because it is a form of journalism where you take one or two or three social media comments and you spin them into a here's what people are saying story. I find it like it's really difficult to understand the sort of death spiral of quite significant parts of journalism. and decide, you know, and sort of chicken and egg it. I don't know whether people being made to do this has compounded the kind of full-scale failure of entertainment journalism in lots of ways, or whether just deciding to do this has... It's very difficult to understand what came first, but whatever it is, it's just... It's the most kind of plastic food. It's so unnutritious. It's just... It's a nothing. And there are about... 10 of these things on even on something like Mail Online, which is not so kind of we've talked before about people like the Express or the Mirror and being stuck and having to do millions of different types of stories about Martin Lewis or whoever it is, because it because it, you know, you can kind of repackage them all slightly differently. But actually, even on Mail Online, there are huge numbers of stories about this. I'm not at all sure how significant the public kind of outrage it reflects is. I don't think it is. And it's just a sort of nothing. You can just find anyone to say anything. And that kind of journalism has bled right out of entertainment and gone all sorts of other places. But I do find it just very, very poor. And the other thing I would say is it fundamentally misunderstands what the show is. This is a show about dancing journeys, endurance, and sort of self-discovery, and also discovery of who the hell these people are. It doesn't matter. Please let everyone tell me that they knew every single part of Karen Carney's personality at the start of last week because I don't want to hear it, okay? But by the end, you're like, I'm in love with this person. Speaker 4 (14:08) And Speaker 6 (14:09) you'll look at someone like Lacey Turner, who I think is just so completely charming and you can feel that there's something about her that lacks masses of types of confidence, even though she's very, very charming and incredibly sort of winning. And you feel like, oh, you could definitely go on a journey. And you're trying to pick the... horses that can go on the journey, as it were, in these shows. That is what the show is ultimately about. It really isn't about, and I should think that, you know, Claudia and Tess would be the first people to say it. They understand that this is what the magic of that format is. Yeah, always has been, always will be. Nothing will change about that because how can it be anything else? So I find the kind of, the predictability of it all difficult. and really depressing. And actually, it's a really pathetic form of journalism. And when I sometimes see people sort of whinging about cuts in journalism and things like that, I think, yeah, well, partly you're doing it to yourself. Speaker 1 (15:05) Yeah, I think when you look at the Strictly in Crisis headlines, you think, well, something's in crisis