Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman makes dig at Tory party chaos with Hamza Yassin comment

Presenter joked wildlife presenter Yassin could be the next PM

Isobel Lewis
Sunday 23 October 2022 09:39 BST
Comments
Strictly Come Dancing pays tribute to the BBC to celebrate centenary

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Claudia Winkleman alluded to the chaos within the UK government on Strictly Come Dancing.

Saturday (22 October) night’s show was a BBC 100 special as part of the channel’s centenary celebrations.

During the episode, the remaining contestants danced to songs and theme tunes inspired by the BBC’s biggest shows of the last 100 years, from Doctor Who to Grange Hill.

Following James Bye’s Foxtrot to the EastEnders theme tune, host Winkleman made a cheeky dig at the last week of chaos within the government that saw Liz Truss resign as prime minister after just 44 days.

“Still to come, Hamza [Yassin] takes on a tricky ballroom dance and if he’s any good at leading, the country’s got a job for him,” she quipped.

Yassin performed a dance to celebrate the BBC’s nature programming and scored 35 points.

With Truss resigning on Thursday (20 October), the Conservative party will find a new leader – and prime minister – in the next few days.

Rishi Sunak is currently the frontrunner, although some sources have suggested that former PM Boris Johnson has the backing of 100 Tory MPs needed to run himself.

Yassin and partner Jowita Przystal
Yassin and partner Jowita Przystal (BBC/Guy Levy)

However, this has been called into question, with Sunak supporter Richard Holden reponding to a reporter pointing out that Johnson did not have 100 publicly declared backers by saying: “It’s because they don’t exist.”

You can follow more updates on The Independent’s live blog here.

Elsewhere in the Strictly centenary special, the show kicked off its celebrations with what Winkleman called the series’ “most ambitious group number” ever.

It featured appearances from Huw Edwards and Jeremy Paxman and nods to BBC shows including University Challenge, Masterchef and Antiques Roadshow.

The number included 14 different shows and 35 BBC stars.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in