Tess Daly's husband Vernon red-faced after seeing 'different side' to Claudia Winkleman

Edinburgh Live

21-05-2025

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Vernon Kay was left bemused after uncovering an old interview with Claudia Winkleman, who fronts Strictly Come Dancing with his wife Tess Daly .
The 51-year-old presenter unearthed the throwback clip during his BBC Radio 2 show, which featured a young Claudia discussing the art of flirting.
Listeners were in for a treat as Vernon announced: "It's time to dive into the BBC Archive for our midweek trip into the vault. We're taking our second visit to the '90s in recent days."
He continued, revealing Claudia's lesser-known past: "Back in 1996, Claudia Winkleman wasn't known as 'Claudia from Strictly', or 'Claudia from the Traitors', or 'National Treasure Claudia Winkleman'. No, no, no, no! For one of her first TV appearances, we saw a whole different side to our Claud.
"Long before Morning Live was around, we had Good Morning with Anne and Nick on BBC One with Claudia introduced as a 'Chat up expert'. This is genius."
After airing the segment where Claudia gave her take on flirtatious interactions, including a woman asking a man for a light and other cheeky chat-up lines, Vernon couldn't help but feign disgust.
Reflecting on how times have changed, he remarked: "It's always difficult isn't it? These days it's all done on an app, which is kind of sad, takes the human element out of it, do you know what I mean? Just swiping.
"There was an art to it, chatting to someone that you fancied. It was difficult, it was getting over that threshold of 'What can I say? What can I do?'."
In recent chats, Vernon has taken a nostalgic trip recalling times gone by. Sharing with his audience, he spoke about his youngest daughter's GCSE revisions, sparking memories of his own school days.
Vernon spoke about his and Tess' daughters Phoebe and Amber, revealing that the study period for 15-year-old Amber brought back sharp recollections.
He jokingly admitted: "Got GCSEs on the horizon...well, they're here. We've started ours, we're up and running. Of course, it's stressful. I remember my GCSEs...well, I don't...I'm lying, it was so long ago - 1990 I did mine. I remember sitting there thinking, 'Gosh, I wish I'd revised'. I'm not remembering anymore, it's making me depressed."
Vernon also shared his views on the pressures of academic assessments, commenting: "It's not the way education should be for me, more practical, playing out, hide and seek, I'd have got A+ in that. It's torturous for some kids, isn't it? If you've got who are going through GSCEs, just put your arm around them.
"There's nothing else they can do. There's no point cramming. You can cram all you want in your revision, which we all did, let's be honest, but you've just got to hold their hand haven't you? Guide them along, make sure they're alright between their ears, in their noggin."