Ellie Taylor on the Strictly backlash: ‘People don’t like change’

While we’ve all been fixated on the big change on Strictly Come Dancing – namely Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe taking over from Tess and Claudia as hosts – there’s been another radical – if somewhat less controversial – adjustment over on the spin-off show It Takes Two. Comedian and former celebrity contestant Ellie Taylor – best known as the sarcastic newsreader on the BBC’s satirical The Mash Report – has taken the reins from Janette Manrara and Fleur East. “I love watching Strictly anyway, but to have to really dive into it all for professional reasons is an absolute treat,” she tells me from her Elstree Studios dressing room. “I have been focused on doing a good job that I hadn’t even really considered that I might enjoy it.” When we speak, Taylor’s only three shows into her first week as It Takes Two host, but already she’s in the swing of things. She’s already injected heaps of fun into the show, jovially ribbing the celebrities and their pro partners and noseying into what it takes to put on such a spectacle, week in, week out. As well as having the experience of competing in the show back in 2022 (she came seventh), you can tell she’s a fan. “It’s such a dream gig for me. It’s all the things I love and all the things I’m good at,” she says. “We want It Takes Two to be a part of the wider Strictly conversation. There are so many unofficial podcasts and so much social content – we want to be a part of that. Strictly is so camp – we want to acknowledge that it’s really funny that Graeme [Hall, Channel 5’s resident dog trainer] did a dance with a bone in his mouth. We’re leaning into the utter ridiculousness.” As a contestant on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in 2022, Taylor came seventh with dance partner Johannes Radebe (Photo: Guy Levy/BBC/PA) Some of that ridiculousness has come in the form of online criticism. After the second show of the new run, viewers were upset that the interview panel only consisted of celebrities, with no professional dancers featured. The very next day, Taylor introduced a panel made up of Jowita Przystał, Julian Caillon, and Lauren Oakley with “guys don’t worry, I’ve read your comments. As if we would not have any Strictly pros!” “I was like, ‘Just hang on a minute’,” she says now. “I do like that there’s a conversation and that the audience is interacting with us. I mean… it was always the plan that we were going to chat with the pros.” But the feedback she’s received has been mostly positive, with many calling for her to take over the Saturday night show. She was, in fact, one of the famous faces – along with Rylan Clark, Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Angela Scanlon – who auditioned for the big job. “I was absolutely thrilled just to get in the room,” she says. “I didn’t expect to get it, and I’m really chuffed with how I did it.” She didn’t take the rejection too hard – “I realised it’s beyond me; there’s so many reasons behind decisions that you’ll never know, so you kind of have to be OK with that” – and having landed the It Takes Two job off the back of her audition, Taylor has chosen to see being passed over for the Saturday night show as a blessing in disguise. “There’s so much truth in ‘what’s for you won’t pass you’,” she says. “If I had got a yes for some things in my career that I got a no for, I wouldn’t have been able to do It Takes Two.” She didn’t always feel that way. “This career is so loud and it’s so visible, it can be hard when you see other people get the golden goose you wanted,” she says. “I definitely have struggled with that at points, but that’s gotten better as I have gotten older.” Taylor has been a regular on panel shows like ‘Mock the Week’ (Photo: BBC Studios/UKTV) Unsurprisingly, Taylor is initially reticent to draw on the criticism that’s been aimed at the main show presenters, particularly Widdicombe – too jittery – and Radebe – too stilted. Strictly is supposed to be a “family”, after all. “People don’t like change,” she ventures. “I think they’re great. There’s such great energy in that room; they’re all so pumped to be there. They’ll settle into the roles even better than they already have.” The more she thinks about it, the more ardent she becomes. “Will everyone just chill out? The key bit of Strictly is the dancing. Let’s remember that all the fundamentals are there.” Nevertheless, would she ever like to graduate to the big Saturday night show? “I’m very happy with the job I have,” she insists. Taylor grew up in Essex and had aspirations of becoming a journalist. During her summers off university, she interned at The Times and at the Vogue offices – she even did a stint at lads’ mag FHM. “Absolutely wild times,” she remembers. “I remember they asked me if I would be in the magazine. I was the intern, and they asked if I would get my kit off for £200, which was a lot of money for me. Thank God I said no.” In her mid-twenties, she discovered stand-up comedy and was a contestant on ITV’s short-lived talent search series Show Me the Funny in 2011. After that, she became a regular on panel shows like Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats, and has since embarked on no fewer than six tours. “The skills I’ve learnt from stand-up – being able to stick on script but knowing when to come off script and make it funny – are a muscle I’ve worked for so many years,” she says. “I think it sharpens your radar for what’s funny and it’s been really fundamental to presenting.” Taylor recently competed on ITV’s gameshow ‘The Box’ (Photo: Twofour/ITV) While Emma Willis is spending her Saturdays pulling together the chaos of the evening’s live show, Taylor is also taking over her Radio 2 show, meaning she’s working every day except Sunday. Has she taken on too much? “It’s a full old week, but I’m lapping it up.” She takes a beat. “Ask me again at Christmas.” Strictly and Radio 2 are two of the BBC’s biggest institutions, and Taylor doesn’t take the responsibility lightly. “I’m very respectful, I really don’t take it for granted,” she says. “I’m aware of what a privilege it is to be trusted to be the voice of Radio 2 for those couple of hours and to host It Takes Two.” The pressure and constant appraisal from the audience might be too much for some, but Taylor blocks it all out. “Even my own judgment,” she says. “It’s so internalised, especially having grown up in the 90s; it’s a funny old landscape in my head, as I’m sure it is for many millennial women.” Despite her near-constant presence on the radio and our televisions, Taylor describes herself as an “introvert“. “I’m not saying it to be enigmatic – I really am,” she says. “I definitely get social anxiety; my social battery doesn’t last too long. Even with my best mates I’ll be like, ‘I’ve had enough now’ and leave.” I suggest she might be playing a character when she is TV and radio’s Ellie Taylor. “Exactly that. You’re never going to be the same person at home as you are when you’re live on the telly. Can you imagine?” She’s kept humble at home, too. “My daughter couldn’t give an absolute monkeys about my job,” she laughs. “She watched It Takes Two and said, ‘I thought there’d be more dancing,’ and watched me abseil from 450ft on The Box and said, ‘I can do that’. I’ve built her up so much that she’s just so innately like, ‘I can do everything’. I’ve done too good a job.” ‘Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two’ is on BBC Two every weeknight at 6.30pm