SHE’S leading the charge as Strictly Come Dancing tries to start a fresh chapter – but Emma Willis has unexpectedly become a potential problem for bosses on the BBC One dance show.
The contest’s new co-host will be fronting the 24th series when it launches in September
Emma Willis is leading Strictly’s new era alongside fellow hosts Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe Credit: PA
Her role on Love Is Blind – which she fronts with with husband Matt Willis – has become an unexpected concern as she prepares for Strictly Credit: PA
, she is seen as a squeaky clean option to take the helm of a show watched by millions of families across the country.
But it’s not Emma, or anything in her background, that’s troubling bosses. I’m told by insiders it’s the other shows she still presents for other channels and streamers.
The most concerning is ‘s which is made by the same production company, CPL, who make for .
by former participants on the show, which involves people who’ve never met before tying the knot then living together as man and wife.
As the inquest into what happened continues, producers are likely to see the scrutiny turn onto Love is Blind.
That could see Emma, who hosts the show with husband , caught in the same spotlight.
An insider said: “There’s absolutely no suggestion that Emma has done anything wrong, and she is just the presenter of the show, not part of the production team or the executives.
“But if Love is Blind does start being questioned along with other, similar shows, then just being associated with that negative attention is likely to be unwanted.
“Particularly as the whiff of scandal has often lingered around other figures – mainly a small number of pros and celebrities – who’ve been on Strictly in recent years.
“There’s very little which Beeb bosses, or Emma and her team, can do to negate any potential problems. They’ll have to wait and see what the results are of the external review into MAFS, ordered by C4.”
The future of MAFS now hangs in the balance as the investigation looks at the allegations brought to light by y on One.
Two women alleged they were raped while making the Channel 4 show, and a third claimed she was the victim of a non-consensual sex act.
Love is Blind requires strangers to become very close, very quickly, which could backfire on producers if things go wrong.
The concept sees couples spend ten days talking to one another in adjoining pods, so they don’t know what they look like, but get to know one another as people.
After that they go to a couples’ retreat where they can get physically intimate.
It is this physically intimate element that has caused the problems for MAFS, as uncovered on Panorama – and it could prove a problem for Love is Blind too.
Last week, two stars of the Netflix show claimed welfare workers on the show were not detached enough from producers to have the best interest of the contestants at heart.
Catherine Richards and Jake Singleton-Hill decided to speak out after watching the the BBC report alleging contestants were sexually abused on MAFS.
Catherine, who said her experience on the show left her “distraught” and needing therapy, said: “We’re puppets to them. They say [there is] welfare, but it’s not welfare. They work for production, and they need storylines.”
Netflix and CPL denied the claims, saying: “Comprehensive safeguarding was implemented at every stage.”
But any further fallout from the show could put Emma in an uncomfortable position.
An insider said: “Being caught in the blast radius of an explosive scandal is the last thing that Emma needs as she prepares to help Strictly turn over a new leaf.”
Emma still has a series of ITV’s The Voice waiting to air alongside her new Strictly role Credit: ITV
The star has built one of the busiest presenting careers on British television – as she continues to front ITV’s Cooking With The Stars while preparing for her Strictly debut Credit: South Shore
She has presented the show with hubby Matt since 2024. With two seasons under their belt and a third in the pipeline, the Willises are now synonymous with Love is Blind.
No statement has been made by Netflix with regards to the future of the programme but the streamer’s website says it is still expected to air this summer.
The big question now is whether Emma feels the need to step back as host of the show, particularly as her Strictly duties ramp up from August onwards.
It’s part of a wider problem for Emma – one that most presenters would give their right arm for. She has an abundance of shows.
Already creating a headache for her, as well as and the Beeb, is the fact that she still has a series of singing contest in the can and ready to air.
It’s usually broadcast on a Saturday night during the autumn on ITV – which is the same night and part of the year that Strictly airs on .
Beeb bosses could probably live with her hosting Cooking with the Stars for ITV, because it is usually on over the summer and airs midweek.
But it would be uncomfortable viewing for execs on both sides to have her presenting big shows for rival channels on a Saturday night.
As difficult as any streamlining would be, Emma has already started to reduce the shows she’s doing.
Over the past few years she has been making an increasing number, and variety of programmes, in addition to The Voice, and Love is Blind.
They include Delivering Babies and Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones for Channel 4, BBC One therapy show Change Your Mind, Change Your Life, as well as a documentary about the struggle of her husband Matt to overcome cocaine abuse, called Fighting Addiction.
Some were one-offs, but others were ongoing series, and she will find it very difficult to juggle her current roster, and not just because of the practicalities either.
Unlike the Strictly presenters she is taking over from, and , she has a whole raft of shows she’s linked to beyond the BBC dance contest.
And as the bombshell of the MAFS scandal has shown, any one of them has the potential to cause her, and the BBC, some serious problems.
We contacted the BBC, Netflix and CPL for comment.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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