Claudia Winkleman: 'Tess Daly makes me insecure about my body'

Claudia Winkleman has admitted that she feels insecure about her post-pregnancy body while hosting Strictly Come Dancing alongside Tess Daly.

The King Of... presenter said that the challenge of returning to work after giving birth to Arthur, her third child with husband Kris Thykier, in July had been worsened by the presence of "amazing racehorse" Daly.



"It's weird getting back in the swing of things," she told The Mirror. "I've been in my pyjamas with strange knots in my hair singing 'The Wheels on the Bus' for the last three months, so getting back to normal, human life is tough. I had to wash my hair for God's sake - how revolting!

"My God, I've got to stand next to Tess Daly every week! She has the best body ever - I just sort of molest her all the time and stroke her face. She's like this amazing, elegant racehorse with those legs.

"And, in contrast, my entire body is b*llocks. I don't think there's a pair of Spanx out there that could make me look good. I'm going to start wearing four pairs at a time."

However, Winkleman insisted that she "wouldn't give a monkey's" about her appearance were it not for Strictly, adding that her healthy and happy baby more than made up for the changes to her body.

"When you roll over in bed your stomach follows about two minutes later, you think, 'Wow, my stomach is an actual separate thing from my entire body!' But it doesn't matter, really," she said. "If the pay-off is this beautiful, perfect baby, what does it matter if you're a little bit fatter?"

Winkleman recently said that the decision to quit Strictly spinoff It Takes Two during her pregnancy "broke [her] heart".