TV presenter Claudia Winkleman has made time in her schedule for the new series by quitting her Radio 2 series and leaving Strictly Come Dancing

Claudia Winkleman’s chat show for BBC1 has finally been confirmed – three years after she filmed a pilot but was “too busy” to take it any further. As revealed by The Mirror in January 2024, BBC bosses were keen for Claudia, host of The Traitors, to follow in Graham Norton’s footsteps.

Since then she has ditched her Radio 2 weekend programme and stepped down as presenter of Strictly Come Dancing, which had filled her weekends from September to December for the past 11 years. Now she will share the Friday night slot with Norton – who signed a new three-year deal with the BBC in the autumn.

Announcing the new show, she said: “I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity. I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.”

The Mirror previously revealed that Claudia had been toying with the idea of becoming a chat show host, but the idea had been “put on ice” because her schedule was too full.

After filming the pilot at the end of 2022, one source confirmed it had gone extremely well but added: “Nothing is going to happen anytime soon. Claudia is just so busy, for now the timing is all wrong.”

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But three years on the situation has changed. The show will be made by the same company behind Graham’s chat show, So Television. Managing director Graham Stuart said: “Graham Norton has made the Friday night talk show slot a dazzling appointment to view. How can you possibly follow that? By booking a host equally as brilliant. So we have.”

Graham, whose BBC series launched back in 2007, has recently signed a new three-year deal to continue with one main series a year, taking him up to 2028. His loyal audience of 3million viewers make The Graham Norton Show “the biggest chat show in the market”, according to the BBC.

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Speaking in October, he said: “Getting to host my own chat show is a huge pleasure as well as a privilege. I’m thrilled that the BBC are allowing me to continue for another three years.” His 34th series will air on BBC1 later in 2026.

In 2015, the star said he planned to retire within a few years, claiming he did not want to still be doing the chat show when he hit 60.

But now aged 62, he changed his mind after being put off by the lockdowns. He explained: “I had this idea that I was going to cut down on my workload, just kind of take my foot off the pedal a bit, and yet the opposite has happened. I’m busier now than I think I’ve ever been.”

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In February, mum-of-three Claudia stood in for Norton while he was working Down Under on his live theatre tour. Her own show will now launch with a seven-week run in the spring and will see her welcoming “the biggest names from the worlds of film, television, music and beyond to her sofa, for lively conversation with the help of a studio audience”.

BBC entertainment commissioning boss Kalpna Patel-Knight said the move recognised how Claudia had become a “true national treasure”. Calling her “warm, witty and endlessly entertaining”, Kalpna added: “She has an extraordinary ability to put people at ease and bring out the very best in them, whether they’re global superstars or members of the audience. It’s very exciting that she will be fronting her very own show on the BBC, and we can’t wait for viewers to join Claudia and her sofa full of stars.”

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As well as The Claudia Winkleman Show, she will continue to front The Traitors, The Celebrity Traitors and The Piano, which is returning for a fourth run on Channel 4 next year.