Rylan Clark has opted to leave BBC Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two.
The host graced the show for four years, bringing viewers all the behind-the-scenes gossip from the dancing competition.
Rylan, who co-hosted the show with Janette Manrara and is presently expecting her first child, has chosen to call it quits.
In a social media statement, the 34-year-old said: ‘The time has come for me to pass on the baton to someone else and explore what else life has for me.
‘Thank you Strictly, you will always have my heart… and dancing feet.’
Instead of mourning his departure, let us appreciate the joy he brought to our living rooms by revisiting some of his favourite moments from the programme.
Broken prop
Rylan managed to shatter a prop essential for a sketch on his penultimate episode of the programme (of course, we didn’t realise it would all be over so soon at the time).
Rylan and Janette, 39, were presenting Gorka Marquez, 32, and Helen Skelton, 39, from Blue Peter.
Rylan said to Janette: ‘Have you heard the rumour?’, to which she responded ‘No, go on.’
‘Apparently she’s got a back-up plan in case she doesn’t win [the Glitterball trophy]. Here’s one she made earlier and it just broke behind my back.’
Rylan then held half of a DIY trophy aloft while the camera pans to the other half sliding away.
He then ducked from the camera while Janette walked away laughing.
Keira Knightley impression
Janette and Rylan replicated the well-known doorstep scene from the 2003 Richard Curtis rom-com Love Actually, made famous by Keira Knightley’s Juliet and Andrew Lincoln’s Mark, in a promotional video for It Takes Two.
Janette knocked on Rylan’s door and started holding out a series of messages written on huge pieces of card.
The notes read: ‘Hi Rylan! It’s me Janette – your co-host from It Takes Two.
‘With any luck, by next year I’ll be presenting on BBC One with these two,’ the second said, with a photograph of hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman to follow.
‘But to me, you are the perfect partner, and my Latin hips will love you every week at 6.30pm,’ Janette’s message concluded.
Rylan then responded by poking fun at one of the famous Love Actually lines and said: ‘It Takes Two actually is all around.’
Before the scene closed, he also released his inner Keira, quoting her character by adding: ‘I look quite pretty!’
Birthday specials
Rylan’s birthday is on October 25, smack in the thick of the Strictly Come Dancing season.
His studio birthdays were made memorable by the staff, which included more than simply a whip-round for a Colin the Caterpillar cake.
It was a fairly routine recording day for Rylan in 2022 when the show was abruptly interrupted by an announcement.
‘We interrupt our programme to bring this important message,’ was sounded leaving Rylan looking perplexed.
‘It’s Rylan’s birthday!’
Innuendos to rival Great British Bake Off
In order to break the world record, Strictly pro Kai Widdrington, 27, had to do pat-a-cake as many times as he could in 30 seconds.
‘It’s blooming hard, that metal thing [which was Kai’s pat-a-cake partner] was getting bashed around the place,’ the dancer remarked.
Rylan instantly spotted the allusion and said, ‘It’s BBC Two Kai.’
Later in the chat, Rylan couldn’t help but join in on the fun.
Upon finding out he was below Neil Jones on the leaderboard Kai said: ‘I can’t have Neil Jones on top of me like that, that’s awful’.
‘Well, some wouldn’t mind it,’ Rylan quickly chimed back.
Complete honesty
Rylan became bored of Amy and Karim Zeroual’s narrative about a little incident in a dance routine when they were sitting on the It Takes Two couch.
We basically witnessed a replica of Pam’s ‘I’m not being humorous, Stacey, but what you just said was incredibly dull’ line from Gavin and Stacey (a programme Rylan enjoys).
Amy, 31, said: ‘We had a measuring tape at the start, and the choreography with the tape at the start was totally different to every other time we did it.
‘When I put it round him, he was supposed to grab this one, and I was supposed to grab this one, but with the suit and everything, they were too close together.’
Karim, 29, added: “I was supposed to hold the thing.”
Rylan was growing bored and told the pair: ‘Oh my God, I’m bored already’, which amused Karim.
He then added: ‘Oh I’ve just been told Hollywood are on the phone as we speak, they want to make a biopic about this!’
We love that he says it like it is
Getting the tea
While other hosts may be hesitant to highlight prospective Strictly romances, Rylan took pleasure in making certain couples uncomfortable.
When AJ Odudu and Kai were paired, allegations circulated that they were more than just buddies.
He told the pair: ‘Let’s talk about the elephant in the room guys, the elephant in the room.’
Kai and AJ, both 35, were apprehensive when Rylan said, ‘Kai, why were AJ’s legs wrapped around your neck, babes?’ in reference to their routine.
Teeth troubles
Rylan, who had recently had his veneers replaced, could instantly connect when Tom Fletcher described how tough it was to smile while dancing on Strictly.
‘It is at the minute,’ Rylan said, as the studio erupted into laughter.
‘Still swollen, still swollen,’ he added, with Tom, 37, complimenting, ‘They look great!’
Not one to be timid or retiring, he made a spectacular entry onto the stage to show off his new teeth.
He entered the set wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask in recognition of the show’s impending musical week, before showing his Hollywood smile.
Rylan, we’re going to miss you!
Strictly Come Dancig: It Takes Two returns later this year to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
