Strictly star La Voix left presenter Tess Daly speechless with a P45 joke during the live show on Saturday night.

Viewers of the BBC hit tuned in as week eight got underway, with the remaining couples dancing for a place in next week’s competition from Blackpool.

La Voix and their professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec closed the show with their Couple’s Choice.

They performed to ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ by Barbra Streisand.

As the pair made their way over to Tess Daly, La Voix couldn’t help but address the mother-of-two receiving an MBE this week.

Tess, 56, was supported by husband

Vernon Kay and lookalike daughter Phoebe as she was honoured by King Charles in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

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Strictly star La Voix left presenter Tess Daly speechless with a P45 joke during the live show on Saturday night

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La Voix and their professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec closed the show with their Couple’s Choice. They performed to ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ by Barbra Streisand

She was made an MBE for her services to broadcasting and charity work as she dedicated the accolade to her late father Vivian who passed away in 2003.

La Voix said on the dance floor: ‘Can we have a moment please? Tess Daly MBE.

As the audience erupted into applause, Tess said: ‘That’s very kind, thank you La Voix.’

She then replied: ‘I’m so proud of you. P45 and an MBE in one mouth, you’re having a hell of an autumn aren’t you? Oh gosh.’

Tess burst out laughing – as did the audience – and was left speechless by the joke.

In a bid to get the show back on the road, she called on head judge Shirley Ballas to begin with her comments on the performance.

Earlier this month Tess and Claudia Winkleman shocked Strictly fans when they revealed they would be stepping down at the end of this series.

This weekend Daily Mail revealed one of Strictly’s most senior bosses has

put forward Paddy McGuinness to replace Claudia.

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La Voix said: ‘I’m so proud of you. P45 and an MBE in one mouth, you’re having a hell of an autumn aren’t you? Oh gosh’

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Tess was made an MBE for her services to broadcasting and charity work as she dedicated the accolade to her late father Vivian who passed away in 2003

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Earlier this month Tess and Claudia Winkleman shocked Strictly fans when they revealed they would be stepping down at the end of this series

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.

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.

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.

Other names touted to replace Tess and Claudia include Holly Willoughby, Zoe Ball, Alex Jones and Bradley Walsh.

‘First thing to go was our chopper…’: Ant and Dec poke fun at ITV ‘cutbacks’ after their helicopter is grounded during the I’m A Celebrity launch show — as staff back home face ‘brutal’ job losses and tension mounts across daytime TV… – suong

When it was announced in May that ITV was cutting 220 jobs, Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha broke down in tears saying it was ‘absolutely brutal’ towards backstage staff, while

Lorraine Kelly called it ‘heartbreaking’.

But 16,000 miles away in the Australian jungle for their show, I’m A Celebrity, hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly joked that they’d lost their helicopter as part of ‘cutbacks’.

When asked on their unscripted after show why they didn’t arrive by helicopter for Sunday’s launch show, as they usually do, Ant, 49, interjected: ‘Cutbacks!’

Laughing, Dec, 50, told viewers: ‘No, it wasn’t cutbacks, we had a chopper on the ground ready to take us out, and basically the weather, it started raining, so we couldn’t take the chopper, we had to go by car instead.

He added: ‘First thing to go was our chopper! Cutbacks gone mad!’

Meanwhile, more than 10 helicopters were hired out by ITV for more than four hours on Thursday and Friday to accommodate the celebrities’ entries on to the show.

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Ant McPartlin, 49, and Declan Donnelly, 50, poked fun at the ITV ‘cut backs’ in a joke about being unable to use their helicopter because of the rain amid the prospect of 200 job losses

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Meanwhile, more than 10 helicopters were hired out by ITV for more than four hours on Thursday and Friday to accommodate the celebrities’ entries on to the show.

The Geordie duo’s shows have remained unscathed by ITV’s cost-cutting agenda as it has so far affected only the daytime TV department, such as This Morning, Loose Women, and Lorraine.

Presenters such as Kaye Adams spoke out about the ongoing situation and said she was having ‘sleepless nights’ about the changes and Kate Garraway said ‘it’s not fun’ to see such sweeping change.

Former Loose Women presenter, Sherrie Hewson, called the decision ‘cruel’ to target the panel’s daily talk show as she said it was a ‘lifeline’ for many lonely people.

Lorraine’s broadcast has been reduced from one hour to 30 minutes each episode and will only broadcast 30 weeks a year; the same is said for Loose Women, instead of their full year schedule.

But like the other daytime shows, This Morning’s production team will merge with those on Lorraine and Loose Women to share resources.

Top TV talent including Lorraine Kelly, 65, were believed to be ‘furious’ and ‘insulted’ over the shakeup while the Loose Women are already fearing inevitable job losses.

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When the cut backs were announced in May, Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha broke down in tears and said it was ‘absolutely brutal’ towards backstage staff

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Top TV talent including Lorraine (pictured May 2025) were believed to be ‘furious’ and ‘insulted’ over the shakeup while the Loose Women are already fearing inevitable job losses

Changes are framed by ITV as a way to save money but reinvest in other genres, while keeping their most important shows.

ITV Studios, which makes shows like I’m A Celeb, generated £1,350million in revenue over the nine months to September this year and so the reality show Down Under is a big money maker for the company.

A cool 7.3 million viewers tuned in on Sunday night to see the latest batch of brave celebrities take on jungle life.

But while the opening episode’s average viewership of 6.6 million people throughout its 90 minutes was impressive, a whopping 11 million people tuned in to see Alan Carr’s unexpected win on the Celebrity Traitors earlier this month.

Nonetheless, I’m A Celeb appears to be a real hit with younger viewers, with an 83% share of 16 to 34 year old viewers tuning in, despite TV viewership numbers in this demographic falling in recent years due to the popularity of streaming services and short-form video content.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.