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His hopes of becoming a prime-time golden boy were dashed after two flagship shows were axed under his watch.
But despite the BBC shelving Top Gear and A Question of Sport, it’s now claimed one of Strictly’s most senior bosses has put forward Paddy McGuinness to replace Claudia Winkleman after she announced she was quitting.
BBC sources say Suzy Lamb, the managing director of BBC Studios, who worked with McGuinness when he hosted low-rent ITV dating show Take Me Out, believes that he would be the ‘perfect fit’ for interviewing contestants.
That was the role Ms Winkleman made her own, and Ms Lamb is said to believe McGuinness’s light-hearted approach when quizzing couples about their dates would easily transfer to chatting to stars and their dance partners.
Take Me Out saw a man try to win over 30 women in order to secure a one-on-one date in Tenerife. During the quiz rounds, if women did not find the man attractive, they could turn off the light on their podiums, with McGuinness saying: ‘No likey, no lighty.’
But the prospect of McGuinness taking over Strictly has prompted much fury among Ms Lamb’s colleagues, with some aghast that she would want Strictly to have any connection to the ITV show with its innuendos and casual sexism.
It’s now claimed one of Strictly’s most senior bosses has put forward Paddy McGuinness to replace Claudia Winkleman
Ms Winkleman, 53, and Tess Daly, 56, will leave Strictly at the end of this series
A BBC source said: ‘Suzy put Paddy forward in a meeting. She really, really got behind him. She clearly thinks he’s great.
‘He hardly has the track record to be doing such a role. Neither Top Gear or Question of Sport is with us any more. He isn’t a fit for Strictly, and there have been some very vocal people shouting it down.
‘As if you would base Strictly on a show like Take Me Out. Strictly is a national treasure.’
A BBC Studios spokesman, however, denied that any conversation had taken place.
Ms Lamb has been one of McGuinness’s biggest supporters at the BBC. Shortly after she arrived in 2018, he was handed the job of fronting Top Gear.
Three years later, after BBC Studios controversially sacked Sue Barker, he took over A Question of Sport. But after the ratings fell from eight million to two million, it was axed after 53 years.
Away from television, McGuinness, 52, had an acrimonious split from his wife Christine in 2022 after 11 years of marriage.
Ms Winkleman, 53, and Tess Daly, 56, will leave Strictly at the end of this series.
Alan Carr, Bradley Walsh, Holly Willoughby and Hannah Waddingham have been named as possible replacements.
