Richard Osman has given his two pence on what Strictly need to do to fix the show’s new format after last weekend’s ratings slump. Things got off to a shaky start on Saturday’s first live show with new presenting team Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe sharing Tess Daly’s former role from the dancefloor while Johannes Radebe held court in the ‘Clauditorium’.However, the decision didn’t go down well with viewers, and now Richard has weighed in as he remarked that the professional dancer needs a ‘slightly different role’. Appearing on his podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, the presenter explained that Johannes cannot handle the ’emotional’ and ‘comic’ elements the way Claudia would. He began: ‘Johannes needs a slightly different role in the Clauditorium. He needs not just to be fed what Claudia used to be fed, because Claudia would turn that into something. ‘And Johannes needs something a bit more It Takes Two, where you go into maybe some of the technical details or something a bit more.’ Richard Osman has weighed in on what Strictly need to fix as he says Johannes Radebe can’t do the ’emotional’ or ‘comic’ elements like fan-favourite Claudia Winkleman He began: ‘Johannes needs a slightly different role in the Clauditorium. He needs not just to be fed what Claudia used to be fed, because Claudia would turn that into something’ He continued: ‘I’m not sure he can do the emotional journey in the same way that Claudia can, or the comic stuff or the diffusing of the tension.’Richard also shared another one of his bugbears with the show as he joked: ‘The one bit of feedback I give to the producers, they don’t need feedback. They don’t want feedback. But I have one bit.’Please, please, please. Can we never have another celebrity introducing themselves by saying, “You’ll probably know me for” or “I’m best known as”. ‘It is so embarrassing for every single person who is. It’s embarrassing for the show. It’s embarrassing for the celebrity. It’s embarrassing for the viewer. ‘You can just say, “Look, I train dogs on Channel Five,” right?’The BBC also failed to pull in as many viewers as they perhaps would have wanted, as 4.8 million tuned in – down substantially on last year’s 6.2 million for the first live show. It is the first time since 2019 that the first live show has rated lower than the pre-recorded launch show. Last Saturday’s pre-recorded launch show peaked at 5.8 million viewers, according to overnight figures, up slightly on last year’s peak of 5.6 million.However, the episode averaged at 5.3 million viewers, down from 5.4 million in 2025.While the peak figure represents a small rise on last year, it remains well below the figures recorded before the programme was hit by a series of controversies. He continued: ‘I’m not sure he can do the emotional journey in the same way that Claudia can, or the comic stuff or the diffusing of the tension’ (Claudia in her Clauditorium at Christmas) This includes allegations about the treatment of celebrity contestants and the culture behind the scenes, leading to the departure of professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima and prompting the BBC to introduce tougher welfare measures.Before the string of scandals, the Strictly launch peaked at 6.7 million viewers and averaged 6.3 million in 2023.A Strictly spokesman said: ‘Strictly was the most watched programme of the night, with a peak of 5 million viewers. As ever, overnight ratings do not give the full picture of all those who watch in an on-demand world.’ Emma, Josh and Johannes have received mixed reactions since they took over from Tess and Claudia, who departed the BBC show at the end of the 2025 series. No doubt with a lot on her mind, Emma joked she was feeling ‘nervous’ about the live aspect of the show before introducing the judges and contestants to the stage.And after it was revealed Josh and Emma would present together on the dance floor, Josh was branded a ‘spare part’ by some. He did, however, earn some praise for making a ‘change partners’ joke, in a playful throwback to the new musical chairs-style format used to announce the pairs in the launch show. As Josh stood on the dancefloor looking bemused, Emma, Johannes and judge Craig appeared alongside him, while Josh wailed ‘change partners,’ leaving viewers in hysterics.