Strictly viewers beg bosses to pair Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe as they present together for the first time and claim Josh Widdicombe has ‘found his natural home’

Strictly viewers hailed the chemistry between new hosts Emma Willis and Johannes Radebe as they presented together for the first time on Sunday night.

After the hosting shake-up ahead of the new series, the presenters have been trying out different pairings throughout the BBC ballroom show.

During the latest episode, fans begged bosses to pair Emma and Johannes together more often and claimed Josh Widdicombe has finally ‘found his natural home’.

Ever since the hit BBC dance show returned to the box two weeks ago, Emma, Johannes and Josh have been heavily scrutinised after taking on the roles from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

But after Sunday night’s first elimination show, fans were positive about elements of the presenting set-up.

Emma and Johannes were paired together for the start of the show, where they discussed the dances from Saturday with the judges.

Sharing their thoughts on X, fans penned: ‘Emma and Johannes presenting together this is much better it’s not hard,’

‘This is the way the hosting needs to be split with emma downstairs as main host and josh and johannes upstairs,’

‘Oh Emma and Johannes together! they’ve realised that’s how it should be,’

‘Surely the BBC can see that Emma and Johannes are great together tonight.’

Emma then headed downstairs to the dance floor to reveal the votes, where she was replaced by Josh, who joined Johannes to chat with the celebs.

Fans enjoyed seeing Josh upstairs as they claimed he appeared less nervous.

They said: ‘Now can we move Josh upstairs plz he works much better up their with Johannes’,

‘Dare I say Josh felt mare natural upstairs being a bit more off the cuff with the saved couples in the result show?’

‘Emma is much better doing the results on her own while Josh & JoJo are upstairs chatting with the celebrities,’

‘Josh is better upstairs. Seems less nervous and more willing to ad-lib,’

‘I will say that Josh is so much better upstairs & I really think they should consider that. Reckon he’ll settle into that part so much easier.’

Week two of the dance show sadly saw Chris Appleton become the first contestant to be eliminated. 

The hair stylist, 43, who hails from Leicester but is now one of the most in-demand hairdressers in Hollywood, had to compete in the dance-off with actress Jaime Winstone, 41, after it was revealed they both got the lowest number of public votes.

And it was his cha cha that impressed the judges the least as they unanimously voted him off, leaving a relieved Jaime – the daughter of hardman actor Ray – through to next week.

Motsi Mabuse, 45, Shirley Ballas, 66, and Anton Du Beke, 60 all chose to save Jamie and her partner Carlos Gu after they danced their cha cha to Pretty Woman from the film of the same name during Movies Week.

It meant that Craig Revel-Horwood, 61, who would have had the deciding vote, was not required to do so, although he later said he would have also saved Jamie.

Chris’s dance to I’ll be Ready from Baywatch only earned him a disappointing 17 points, just one more than he was given during the first live show the week before.

Despite a fun routine which culminated in Chris ripping open his red vest to reveal his washboard stomach and six-pack, the judges were critical of his technical ability.

‘I felt it was a little bit disconnected and I felt there were some awkward moments in there for you,’ said Craig after his performance on Saturday night.

‘Your top of your body has to marry what’s happening with your hips and your straight legs.’

Motsi, however, said she could ‘see improvement’, while Anton said the performance was ‘another level’ even though the dancing wasn’t quite there.

Chris has been vocal about his nerves at appearing on the show and said he’d been struggling on Saturday night.

‘I’m having a blast, I am really struggling with my nerves, I’m not going to lie, I’ve never done it. But I am finding a new part of myself and dancing, I’m just having so much fun,’ he said.

A Strictly spokesman said: ‘Strictly’s Movie Week was the most watched programme of the night, with a peak of 5.6 million viewers. 

‘As ever, overnight ratings do not give the full picture of all those who watch in an on-demand world.’

The remaining 14 couples will take to the dancefloor next week, when Strictly Come Dancing returns at 6.15pm on Saturday, October 10.