Vernon Kay has vented his frustration over speculation surrounding who will replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as hosts of Strictly Come Dancing. Last month, Tess, Vernon's wife, and her co-host Claudia announced they would be handing over the "sparkly baton" to two new stars after 12 years of presenting together.
Since then, a number of potential successors have been suggested, including this year's contestant La Voix. Last week it was revealed that she would no longer be taking part in the competition due to an injury sustained in rehearsals with Aljaz Skorjanec.
Following her unexpected departure, no dance pair faced elimination, with scores from the previous week being carried forward. The results show, which also did not feature a dance-off, instead included a heartfelt farewell for La Voix, along with a spectacular performance from four former contestants.
Commenting on La Voix's exit and send-off, BBC Radio 2's Scott Mills said during a live on-air chat with Vernon on Monday: "Terrible news about the ankle, but who gets a send off like that on Strictly?
"Normally you have to dance awkwardly with your partner, and it's not rehearsed," the former contestant added. "And the band sings 'I've had the time of my life' and that's the end of that."
While discussing the topic, Vernon took the chance to air a persistent grievance.
He explained: "It's hilarious really, since Tess and Claud announced that they will be leaving all the dentist, doctors and reception magazines are all saying, 'It's going to be this person, it's going to be that person'. Let me just say this for the record, and I know a lot of people listen to his because we get quoted a lot of times.
"Do you honestly think that the people at Strictly Come Dancing mid-series are going to have a roundtable about who is going to host it next year?", to which Scott responded: "No, I don't think that."
Elaborating further, Vernon said: "Sometimes common sense when you put your fingers to the keyboard makes a big difference."
When Scott asked whether he might replace his wife as host, Vernon joked: "I tell you who it is, it's me and Rylan [Clark]. There you go, done, simple."
Following Scott's observation that producers are currently focused on the ongoing series, Vernon concurred, stating: "It's not even finished, as if they've got time! They've got a Christmas special to organise, just behave yourselves! Wind your necks in, it does my head in."
The presenter, who has been married to Strictly's long-standing host for 21 years, revealed he's repeatedly questioned about the programme despite having no insider knowledge. Summarising Vernon's rant, Scott interjected: "What Vernon is saying is stop speculating about who the new hosts will be, because the other ones haven't finished yet," prompting his colleague to reply: "Exactly."
Alongside La Voix, numerous well-known personalities have been suggested as possible replacements, including Holly Willoughby, Paddy McGuinness, Zoe Ball and Alex Jones.
However, despite ongoing speculation, Kate Phillips, the BBC's Chief Content Officer, recently confirmed that no announcement will be made until next year.
Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, she explained: "In terms of the process, the production team, BBC Studios and Sarah James [Executive Producer], her team and all these great people who make it, they are now concentrating on getting two shows out a week.
"So we haven't got time at the moment to start doing any screen tests or chemistry testing. I don't think we'll really be looking at it until the New Year because we want to make sure we deliver a great Strictly series."