Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will leave at the end of the upcoming series (Image: BBC)

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are edging closer to their final episode hosting Strictly Come Dancing, and BBC bosses have reportedly now shortlisted 10 stars to replace them. The duo will team up on Strictly for the final time during next week’s grand final, before making their last appearance alongside each other in the festive special, airing on Christmas Day. It’s no secret that BBC bosses have had a mammoth task on their hands attempting to find a replacement for Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, who have co-hosted Strictly together since 2014.

Since they announced their exit in a joint statement in October, a number of names have been thrown into the mix as potential replacements. Keen to find the perfect on-screen pairing, BBC executives are reportedly putting stars through a series of chemistry tests to see who works best together. The three stars at the top of that list are Bradley Walsh, Alex Jones and Alan Carr. However, there are still seven other celebrities who are in for a chance of walking away with the prestigious gig.

Alan Carr is amongst the top three in the running (Image: Getty)

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A source told The Sun: “Replacing Claudia and Tess is a mammoth task but the BBC have whittled down the talent to 10 people. As well as Bradley, Alex and Alan, Rylan Clark, Rob Rinder, Zoe Ball, and Holly Willoughby will be at the chemistry day. Amanda Holden, Alison Hammond, and Angela Scanlon have made the cut too.”

“They will go to a studio and be put into different pairs to see who works together best. It could be two women or two men paired, or a mix. They will ultimately choose whoever has the best chemistry in each partnership.”

The insider acknowledged that Rylan, 37, and Alan, 49, already have strong on-screen partnerships with Rob Rinder and Amanda Holden through their respective shows, but are keen to form a new pairing to freshen things up.

They added: “Strictly bosses want to mix things up and see if there is a partnership within the ten that hasn’t been tried out before and is perfect.

BBC bosses are keen to find the perfect on-screen pairing to freshen up Strictly (Image: Getty)

“Ultimately, no one is bigger than the show so whichever lucky pair land the jobs will be the ones who the BBC think will be the perfect accompaniment to the series.”

It comes after Tess was left in tears while filming the pre-recorded Christmas episode. After the recording, an audience member said there was an overwhelming amount of emotion in the room at the close of the show.

“Tess and Claudia looked pretty choked as they grabbed hold of each other’s hands and said that this was the final time they were ever going to say ‘keeeeeep dancing,’” they told the Mirror. “They were fighting hard to hold it together, but it was clear they were saying that iconic catchphrase with more emotion than ever before.”

The insider added: “Tess was wiping away tears afterwards. She managed to do it in between takes, so on screen, she will look fine. But the audience knew, it all felt incredibly emotional. We were stamping and cheering and gave them a standing ovation at the end.”