‘Strictly Come Dancing’ upcoming hosts still confused of their role: ‘we play around’

The new Strictly Come Dancing hosts are still figuring out their roles.

Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe were unveiled earlier this year as a fresh presenting trio for the hit BBC show.

This came after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped down, but there are no "like for like" swaps in terms of their duties.

Emma told Richard Osman's The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, "There’s no like for like, so no one’s kind of replacing anybody and at the minute it’s all very kind of open.”

"We’re having lots of production days where we go in and we play around and we’re kind of feeling each other out – well, they’re feeling us out really,” she added.

Comedian Josh jokingly compared their situation to the idea of "total football" which is a style of play where players can rotate in and out of each other's positions.

He quipped, "It’s going to be like total football, Richard. We’re going to be moving everywhere."

Meanwhile, Emma dismissed previous reports suggesting Johannes, who is also listed among this year's professional dancers, would have a "backstage" role.

"There’s definitely no backstage roving reporter, which is what has been reported quite a bit. That’s not a thing,” she confirmed.

Meanwhile, the idea of having a three-host lineup was something of a "wild card" for producers, who didn't have a script lined up to test the trio about which Emma said, "We’re just like, ‘What happens if we do three?’”

"And they said, ‘It’s so much of a wild card, we don’t really have a script for you either. So, we’re going to sit down, get it up on the screen and we’ll have a little tinker all together.’"

EastEnders icon Lacey Turner, 38, Neighbours alum Delta Goodrem, 41, Love Island alums Cach Mercer, 25, and 29-year-old Dani Dyer (who withdrew last year due to an ankle injury) and 43-year-old celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton will hit the dancefloor for the new series.

Big Brother host Will Best, 41, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, 48, Babs actress Jaime Winstone, 41, football player-turned-pundit Shaun Wright-Phillips, 44, and House of the Dragon's Bethany Antonia, 28, are also taking to the dance floor.

Completing the line-up are Gavin and Stacey's Melanie Walters, 64, dog trainer Graeme Hall, 60, Emmerdale actor Lawrence Robb, 34, Olympic skeleton gold medallist Tabby Stoecker, 25, and 33-year-old YouTube star John Nellis.