Tess Daly shares first 'Strictly' meeting with Bruce Forsyth: 'He made the perfect cuppa'

Tess Daly has shared how the late Sir Bruce Forsyth calmed her first day nerves on Strictly Come Dancing - by making her the perfect cup of tea.

Daly has hosted the BBC One show, now in its 20th season, since it began - originally with Sir Bruce from 2004 to 2014, and now alongside Claudia Winkleman.

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She admitted that her first day in the job had been terrifying, particularly being matched as co-host with the veteran broadcaster, but said that he soon put her at her ease by putting the kettle on.

Daly said: "I remember being so intimidated because I was working with the late, great, Sir Bruce Forsyth, someone who I had grown up watching on the television with my family, and it was pure pinch yourself stuff.

"He was such a gentleman and made me feel immediately at ease by offering to make me a cup of tea. He popped the kettle on and made me the perfect cuppa, and I just remember thinking, ‘oh my goodness, he's just like the rest of us.’

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"He was just so down to earth and so generous with his time and himself, so from that moment on I just began to enjoy the ride."

Sir Bruce retired from the main show in 2014 and died in 2017, aged 89.

After he left Strictly, Winkleman took over as co-host with Daly, having previously presented spin-off show It Takes Two.

She told how some of her early series on It Takes Two had been very different in real life to the glamorous image viewers saw - including battling morning sickness on air during the live show.

Winkleman said: "On It Takes Two I had morning sickness and there was this a bucket behind the chair as I would throw up during every VT, which was really quite a lot for the crew to deal with.

"When my son was one I would take him to work and he would often be hiding behind a sofa with a toy."

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